The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday directed the Central Government to take a decision within a week on whether the National Investigation Agency (NIA) should investigate the violence at Lovely Professional University (LPU).

This, after the Punjab government reported that the cyber-terrorism offence under Section 66F of the Information Technology Act, 2000, has been added to the case.

The Bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor directed the Punjab Government to forward a report on the commission of a scheduled offence to the Centre within 72 hours under Section 6 of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008.

The Court was hearing a PIL filed by an LPU student seeking transfer of the investigation into the campus violence, which began on the night of September 26, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the supervision of the High Court.

According to the petition, an unverified Reddit post began circulating among LPU students on the night of September 26, alleging that a worker had raped a girl student on campus, that the university had sent her home, and that she had subsequently died by suicide.

The Court noted that the Punjab Police had filed status reports stating that the investigation was proceeding. The second status report said that material had prima facie emerged during the investigation indicating the applicability of Section 66F of the IT Act, which deals with cyber terrorism. The provision was consequently added to the case.

Senior Advocate Gaurav Chopra, appearing for the petitioner, drew the Court's attention to the NIA Act and submitted that Section 66F of the IT Act is included in its Schedule, making it a “scheduled offence” under Section 2(g).

Relying on Section 6 of the NIA Act, the petitioner submitted that where information concerning a scheduled offence is received under Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the police station officer must forward a report to the State Government, which must then send it to the Central Government as expeditiously as possible.

The Central Government must determine within 15 days of receiving the report whether the offence is a scheduled offence and whether, having regard to its gravity and other factors, it is a fit case for investigation by the NIA. If the Centre directs the NIA to investigate, the State Government and its police officers must stop the investigation and transmit the relevant records to the agency.

The Bench recorded the petitioner's submission that, once such a decision is taken, the State investigation would have to stop and the records be handed over to the Centre.

The Court observed that the State's affidavit did not indicate that the authorities had taken note of the provisions of the NIA Act.

It therefore directed Punjab to forward the report concerning the scheduled offence to the Central Government within 72 hours. The Centre was directed to take an appropriate decision within a week of receiving the report, and the authorities were asked to place the developments before the Court on the next date.

The matter will next be taken up on November 17, 2026.