Ryan murder: Teen accused denied bail

A sessions court on Monday rejected the bail plea of a 16-year-old student, accused of killing 7-year-old Pradhyumn Thakur at the Ryan International School in Gurugram.

Additional Sessions Judge Jasbir Singh Kundu declined relief to the accused and imposed a cost of Rs 21,000 for "wasting court's time" in baseless litigation and directed the father of the accused to deposit the amount.

"The conduct of the appellant (accused) indicates that he is taking court proceedings for a joy ride. He has indulged in wasting precious court time in baseless litigation on account of which seven court hearings have gone down the drain.

"This court finds no irregularities, illegalities or impropriety in the impunged order dated December 15, 2017 passed by JJB (Juvenile Justice Board), dismissing default bail application," the court said.

The court said the accused's ulterior motive in filing the present application was aimed to divert the track of the ongoing investigation or delay the probe and then "grab" the default bail.

It also directed in-chamber proceeding in the matter and ordered the media not to use the juvenile's name in any of the reports.

Barun Thakur, father of the seven-year old-boy Pradhyumn who was found killed, welcomed the order and said he was satisfied with the verdict and the progress of the investigation so far.

The court had earlier reserved the order after hearing arguments of the counsel for the accused, the Central Bureau of Investigation and the complainant.

The defence counsel had claimed that the chargesheet in the matter was not filed within one month, as prescribed in the Juvenile Justice Act, and he was not given the required documents.

Opposing the contention, the CBI had said the mandatory period for filing a chargesheet was 90 days under CrPC provisions as the accused had been declared an adult by the Juvenile Justice Board.

Pradhyumn was found with his throat slit in the school's washroom on September 8 last year.

The Gurugram Police had claimed the crime was committed by a school bus conductor, which was later refuted by the CBI.

The probe agency had claimed the teenager had killed Pradhyumn in a bid to get the school closed so that a parent-teacher meeting and an examination could be deferred.

The court was hearing an appeal filed by the accused against an order of the JJB denying him bail.

The JJB had on December 20 held that the teenager would be tried as an adult and directed that he be produced before the Gurugram sessions court.

The JJB had noted that the accused was mature enough to recognise the consequences of his actions.

If convicted, the accused will stay in a correctional home till he is 21 years old after which the court can shift him to a jail or grant him bail, it had said.

The board had earlier rejected the bail plea of the Class 11 Ryan International School student.

It had set up a committee which included a psychologist from the PGI, Rohtak, for an expert opinion on the accused who was taken into custody by the CBI in November 2017.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 lowers the age of juveniles from 18 years to 16 years for heinous crimes such as rape, murder and dacoity-cum-murder, which warrant at least seven years of imprisonment.

However, the JJB first decides whether the crime was "child-like" or was it committed in an "adult frame of mind", following which it orders the accused to be tried as a juvenile or an adult.