Bail plea of Ryan accused to be heard in Jan

Gurugram: Two days the Juvenile Justice Board ordered that the 16-year-old boy accused of murdering Pradyuman Thakur will be tried as an adult, the first hearing took at a Gurugram sessions court took place on Friday.

The court has slated the next hearing in the matter to take place on January 6, where an important bail petition of the juvenile will be taken up.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), whose investigation had led to the revelation of the juvenile's role in Pradyuman's murder, has demanded that bail be not granted to the Class XI student.

The juvenile will also be asked to be present at the court on January 3.

In a major judgement by the Juvenile Justice Board, the special court on Wednesday had ordered that the would face trial as an adult.

The order attained significance, as it ensured that the Class XI student, if convicted, will not serve more than three years in prison, the usual quantum of sentence for juvenile convicts.

Additionally, the boy will also not be given harsh punishments such as life imprisonment of death sentence, in case he is found guilty, as Section 21 of the Juvenile Justice Act prevents the judiciary from doing so.

As per the new law, however, which was passed by Parliament in January 2016, a juvenile, if convicted, would serve a maximum of 10 to 15 years behind bars.

Pradyuman's had taken a new dimension, after the CBI trashed the probe by Gurugram police and gave a clean chit to bus conductor Ashok Kumar, who had been arrested on the charges of murdering and sexual assaulting Pradyuman, but later got bail.