New Delhi, May 3 (IANS): The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notice to Delhi Police on a plea seeking direction to file the chargesheet in a sexual harassment case against Jawaharlal Nehru University Professor Atul Johri.

Justice J.R. Midha asked police to file a reply on the plea and listed the matter for further hearing on October 31.

The court order came on a plea filed by eight JNU students.

Representing the students, advocates Vrinda Grover and Soutik Banerjee told the court that Delhi Police's failure to file a chargesheet even after a year "sends a signal that the police are shielding the accused from legal consequences."

The counsels also said that police has not given any justification for the non-filing of the chargesheet.

They also told the court that the statements of witnesses have already been recorded in March last year.

Thereafter, in May 2018, police recorded the supplementary statements of the complainants and the witnesses.

Therefore, the petitioners have sought the court's direction to the police to expedite the process of filing the chargesheet in the case.

On March 16, 2018, police had registered an FIR based on nine complaints. Later, they registered eight FIRs against Johri on the separate complaints of nine students who alleged that he sexually harassed them in a lab of the Department of Life Sciences.