Special children’s court to hear Ryan murder case as a whole

GURGAON: The hearing of the Ryan murder case on Friday in the court of additional district and sessions judge Jasbir Singh Kundu is significant, as the case has reached the consolidation stage.

Now all petitions regarding the bail, hearing on appeals and decision on status of the juvenile, with regard to his trial as an adult, will be decided by this court.

Legal experts associated with the Ryan murder case, on behalf of the complainant as well as the accused, agreed that there would be more clarity as the special children’s court will hear the case as a whole. It is also likely that the Juvenile Justice Act, under which the accused was tried by the board, would come under scrutiny and a precedent might be set in the case.

“The special court judge is very experienced and we expect that a very detailed scrutiny of all the aspects of the case would happen now. This case has multiple dimensions and a number of stakeholders and requires detailed judicial scrutiny, which we expect will happen now,” said Sandeep Aneja, part of the legal team representing the juvenile accused. The Juvenile Justice Board had rejected the bail plea of the accused, rejected the appeals filed by the defence with regard to taking the fingerprints and also did not admit the appeal against the CBI that it had taken the accused to different places beyond the permitted time set by the JJ Board. The father of the 16-year-old accused had even alleged that it favoured the CBI.

Sushil Tekriwal, counsel of the complainant Barun Chandra Thakur, said that the entire case will now be heard as one. The court might also reconsider the JJ Board’s decision to consider the accused as an adult for trial.

“All petitions and appeals can be heard by a single court,” he added.