HC pulls up cops over failure to arrest school trustees in case; refuses pre-arrest bail

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused pre-arrest bail to two accused school trustees in the Badlapur sexual assault case, and also came down heavily on the police for failing to arrest them so far.

A division bench of the high court gave an earful to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case for its inability to apprehend the duo, asking whether it was waiting for the accused to obtain pre-arrest bail.

Subsequently, another judge of the high court rejected their anticipatory bail applications.

Justice RN Laddha noted in his order that the offence was serious, and the chairman and secretary of the school – where the alleged sexual assault of two kindergarten girls took place in August – were responsible for the management of the school.

“Prima facie there is material to show that the two accused were aware of the alleged incident before August 16, but they failed to take any steps to report the same to the police or local authority,” the judge observed.

“The victims are minors. The trauma they have endured can profoundly affect their adolescent years leaving them with lasting psychological scars,” the court said.

It was undisputed that the applicants were responsible for managing the school, it added.

“There is prima facie material indicating that the victims’ parents had voiced their grievances to the class teacher and other staff members. The applicants were aware of the incident before August 16. Despite having knowledge, they did not report the incident to police,” the HC said.

The delay in lodging a police complaint was “primarily because of applicants’ negligence for reasons known only to them”, the judge said.

Earlier, a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan while hearing a public interest litigation taken up suo motu (on its own) regarding the case reprimanded the SIT. Agencies