HC denies pre-arrest bail to Pintos

Allows 24 hours to apply in Haryana School gardener detained in case The SC had observed in a 2013 case that transit anticipatory bail cannot be given by a high court or sessions court in a crime that falls within the jurisdiction of a court in another

In a major setback to Ryan Pinto, CEO of Ryan International Group of Institutions, and his parents Augustine and Grace, founding chairman and managing director of the group respectively, the Bombay high court has rejected the transit anticipatory bail application in light of Supreme Court observations.

Meanwhile in Gurgaon, the police detained and questioned Harpal Singh, a gardener at Ryan International School, who is a key witness in the murder of a Class 2 student, and is likely to make more arrests. “Some more arrests are likely to be made,” a senior Special Investigation Team (SIT) official said.

Besides Harpal Singh, the SIT has questioned 17 persons, including section in-charge Anju Dudeja, suspended acting principal Neerja Batra, former principal Rakhi Verma, bus driver Saurabh Raghav, bus contractor Harkesh Pradhan and eight security guards.

The Pinto family had approached the high court seeking bail apprehending arrest in connection with

the murder of a sevenyear-old boy in the toilet of a school run by the group in Gurugram on September 8.

The apex court had observed in a 2013 case that transit anticipatory bail cannot be given by a high court or sessions court in a crime that falls within the jurisdiction of a court in another state, and there was no provision for the same in the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) either.

The court, however, granted an extension of stay on remand for 24 hours on the condition that the Pintos deposit their passports with the police commissioner by 9 pm on Thursday.

The trio will be approaching the relevant court in Haryana for anticipatory bail.