Gurugram schoolboy murder: SC rejects bail plea of juvenile

Gurugram: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the bail plea of a juvenile, accused of killing a seven-year-old boy in a private school in Gurugram, saying that the alleged crime fell under the category of "heinous offence". The accused, who has been treated as an adult under a new law, claimed that he could not be awarded death or life sentence for the alleged offence of murder in accordance with the Juvenile Justice Act.

A bench of Justices RF Nariman and Indu Malhotra rejected the plea which sought default bail on the grounds that the charge-sheet was not filed within 60 days. Advocate Gaurav Agarwal, appearing for the accused, who was a student in the school, argued that the law says that no child shall be sentenced to death or punished with life imprisonment.

He said that if the child, who is just 16 years old, is to be sentenced for life with a possibility of remission, then the alleged crime does not fall under the category of "heinous offence" but of "serious offence". Agarwal submitted that if it is a serious offence, then the stipulated period for filing the charge sheet is 60 days and he can be granted the benefit of default bail as the charge sheet in the present case was filed on 89th day.

The bench said that he could be awarded life sentence with a possibility of remission but the alleged crime cannot be termed as not heinous.

The court said section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code comes under the category of heinous offence and the time limit for filing the charge sheet was 90 days and not 60 days.

Advocate Sushil Tekriwal, appearing for the victim's father, opposed the bail plea of the accused.

The Punjab and Haryana high court had, on June 6, dismissed the bail plea of the 16-year-old student, accused of killing the boy in September last year.

The high court had also rejected the accused's submission that he deserved the benefit of statutory bail on the grounds that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had failed to conclude its probe within the prescribed limit of 60 days. The case is presently being heard at the district courts in Gurugram and the premier investigating agency has been given time till July 30 to submit the supplementary charge sheet. The accused had challenged in the high court the February 5 order of a Gurugram sessions court which had rejected his plea saying the stage was not fit for granting bail.

On May 21, the district court had held that the 16-year-old student would be tried as an adult in the murder case. Upholding the decision of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), the court had said the juvenile board took into consideration all the material placed before it to establish "the physical and mental capacity (of the accused) to commit the crime" and there was no need for any intervention.

The CBI, in its charge sheet, had alleged that the teenager had murdered the student on September 8 last year in a bid to get exams postponed and a scheduled parent-teacher meeting cancelled.

The victim's body, with the throat slit, was found in the washroom of the school at the Bhondsi area of Gurgaon.

(With agency inputs)