The CBI opposed the bail plea saying the accused does not deserve any leniency
The Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the bail plea of a teen accused of killing a 7-year-old boy at a private school in Gurgaon. A three-judge bench headed by Justice RF Nariman dismissed the plea, which had challenged the Punjab and Haryana High Court order.
"We have heard counsel for all parties exhaustively including learned counsel appearing on behalf of the complainant. Since the petitioner is now being tried for the purposes of bail only as an adult, we see no reason to interfere with the impugned judgment of the High Court at this stage. Accordingly, the Special Leave Petition is dismissed," said the bench also comprising Justices Navin Sinha and Indira Banerjee.
The CBI opposed the bail plea saying the accused does not deserve any leniency and contended that the Juvenile Justice Act cannot be used as a ploy to dupe the course of justice.
The accused had argued before the top court that the high court had erroneously observed that there is possibility of tampering of witnesses in the case. He said that due to the coronavirus pandemic, there is very less possibility of trial to start in the near future.
Advocate Sushil Tekriwal, appearing for the victim's father, had also opposed the bail plea saying the accused can be a serious threat.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court in June had dismissed the bail plea filed by the boy. "This court is not inclined to grant any relief to the petitioner, in view of the order dated February 28, 2019, passed by Supreme Court, directing that for deciding the bail application, the petitioner be treated as an adult; therefore, there is little scope for this court to find out whether the petitioner can be granted the relief under Section 12 of Juvenile Justice Act," the High Court had said in its order.
The CBI, in a chargesheet, had said the teenager had murdered the student on September 8, 2017 in a bid to get the examinations postponed and a scheduled parent-teacher meeting cancelled.