Bombay HC rejects bail pleas of Ryan bosses
The Bombay high court on Thursday rejected transit anticipatory bail pleas of Ryan Pinto, CEO of Ryan International Group, and his parents — Augustine, 73 and Grace, 62 — in connection with the brutal killing of an 8-year-old student on the campus of their school at Bhondsi in Gurgaon.
Justice Ajey Gadkari has, however, continued the interim protection from arrest granted to the trio till 5pm on Friday on the condition that they surrender their passports to the Mumbai police commissioner by 9pm Thursday. The judge has clarified that the protection will automatically end, if they fail to surrender passports.
The trio had approached the high court, following the arrest of two top officials of the Ryan International Group in Gurgaon. The Pintos, in their plea, said that while the death of the boy was unfortunate, the management cannot be held culpable and that they themselves were victims of the unfortunate circumstances. corroborating his statement.
Francis Thomas has been booked under section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act along with another management official, Jayesh Thomas.
A Gurgaon police team which had gone to Mumbai to investigate the case has submitted a report. Sources said that the team also issued a notice on Thursday to Ryan School management under section 91 of the CrPC to share documents and records that are needed for investigation into the murder case. Although Gurgaon police have arrested the main suspect, Ashok Kumar, who has confessed to the crime, but the parents of the boy have demanded a CBI inquiry into the murder.
Gurgaon police commissioner Sandeep Khirwar on Thursday reiterated that the SIT had enough evidence to prove Kumar guilty. “The evidence we have against the accused is strong enough to prove his guilt and it will stand judicial scrutiny,” Khirwar said.
Khirwar said the police probe has reached a critical stage with the statements of the first respondents having been recorded along with witnesses such as the gardener, the teachers, and students.
The SIT, on Thursday, detained Harpal Singh, the gardener, who was the first to spot the body of 8-year old boy outside the school toilet, for questioning. The detention comes after Singh was interrogated by ADGP (law and order) Akil Mohammad.
Sources in the police department said that the top Haryana cop had instructed the SIT to keep a close watch on Harpal.
The SIT however was noncommittal on the arrest of the gardener.
parents of a nineyear-old boy, who died at GD Goenka school of Indirapuram in Ghaziabad more than a month ago, on Thursday requested the Supreme Court to order a CBI inquiry into the death.
A Class 4 student, Arman Sehgal died after a “fall” in school on August 1. His parents lodged an FIR against the school authorities for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and destruction of evidence.
A magisterial probe was ordered on August 4 but the probe report is yet to be submitted.
Sehgals’ plea for a CBI probe is second such request made to the top court this week.
On September 11, the Supreme Court sought replies from the Centre, Haryana and others on a petition filed by a father seeking a CBI probe into the murder of his eight-year-old son at Ryan International School in Gurgaon.
The Class 2 student was found with his throat slit outside his school toilet on September 8, triggering outrage and a debate over security of students in schools.
His father has sought safety guidelines for schools so that such an incident was not reported. A conductor of the school bus was arrested after he publically confessed to murdering the boy.