SC declines bail to student accused of murdering 7-yr-old at school

Sep 2, 2020
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to grant bail to a boy accused of killing a 7-year-old boy on the premises of a private school in Gurugram, allegedly to force a postponement of examinations.

The accused had allegedly slit the throat of the victim, whose body was found in the washroom of the school at the Bhondsi area in Gurugram.

A bench comprising Justices R.F. Nariman, Navin Sinha and Indira Banerjee said: “We have heard learned counsel for all parties exhaustively, including learned counsel appearing on behalf of the complainant. Since the petitioner is now being tried for the purposes of bail only as an adult, we see no reason to interfere with the impugned judgment of the High Court at this stage.”

The bench went on to dismiss the special leave petition.

Counsel for the victim’s father contended before the bench that there is likelihood of tampering of evidence, if bail is granted to the accused.

The accused had argued that due to Covid-19 pandemic, chances of the beginning of the trial in the future are very slim, and that the high court had erred in holding that there is a possibility of tampering of evidence.

In June, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had dismissed the accused’s plea seeking bail. The CBI also opposed the bail plea, contending before the top court that the accused does not deserve any leniency.

The court had said that against the backdrop of the apex court order passed in February 2019, that for deciding the bail application, the petitioner be treated as an “adult”, there is little scope for it to find out whether any relief could be granted under the Juvenile Justice Act.

The CBI, which had taken over the case from the Gurugram police soon after the crime in September 2017, had alleged that the teenager had murdered the victim in a bid to postpone the examination and also to cancel the parent-teacher meet.IANS