On Tuesday, the Punjab and Haryana high court dismissed the bail plea filed by a boy allegedly involved in the 2017 Gurugram school murder in which a student of Class II was killed inside the school’s washroom.
“This court is not inclined to grant any relief to the petitioner, in view of the order dated February 28, 2019, passed by Supreme Court (SC), directing that for deciding the bail application, the petitioner be treated as an “adult”; therefore, there is little scope for this court to find out whether the petitioner can be granted the relief under Section 12 of the Juvenile Justice Act,” observed Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan, while dismissing his plea.
The high court was of the view that the board and the appellate court had passed a detailed order declining the concession of bail to the petitioner in view of the proviso to Section 12(1) of the Act and it found no reason to form a different opinion.
On the argument that the petitioner was not kept in a congenial atmosphere at the children’s home and was facing medical problem, the court observed that it had not been proved from the two reports of the medical board, stating that the petitioner was not facing any serious problem/illness and rather it was noticed that the petitioner was gaining weight.
HC also clarified that the delay in disposal of the trial on account of the pendency of plea before the higher courts, wherein status quo has been ordered, cannot be taken as a ground to grant the concession of bail to the petitioner. “The prosecution has cited certain witnesses who are minors, including the sister of deceased and, therefore, possibility of tampering the evidence, cannot be ruled out, at this stage in view of the totality of circumstances and the affidavit filed by the CBI,” observed Justice Sangwan.
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The accused, Bholu (name given by the Supreme Court for not disclosing his identity), had approached the HC for setting aside the order dated October 30, 2018, passed by the principal magistrate of the juvenile justice board of Gurugram, dismissing the application for bail as well as the order dated November 5, 2018, passed by additional sessions judge of Gurugram, dismissing his plea for bail.
Accused is lodged at a juvenile home in Karnal.
On September 8, 2017, the body of 7-year-old Prince (name given by SC to the victim) was found inside the toilet of the school, with his throat slit. Initially the matter was investigated by the Haryana Police, which had booked a bus conductor. However, later, the case was referred to CBI. It arrested “Bholu”, a student of Class XI of the same school, for killing Prince.
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