Ryan murder case: CBI opposes bail plea of 16-yr-old accused

The CBI today opposed the bail plea of the 16-year-old student accused in the Ryan murder case, saying the recent Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) order to try him as an adult "speaks about his mental status and the heinous crime he committed".
The agency sought dismissal of the bail plea on the ground that the JJB had passed a very reasonable order denying statutory bail to the student, accused of killing seven-year- old Pradhuman Thakur.
"The order of the court to try the accused as an adult assumes great significance in that it speaks about the mental status of the accused and the heinous crime committed by him...

"The appeal filed by accused for grant of bail may please be dismissed in the interest of justice," the agency said.
Additional Sessions Judge Jasbir Singh Kundu said that he would hear the detailed arguments on January 6 on the appeal filed by the accused against an order of the JJB denying him bail.
The probe agency made the submissions in a written reply to the appeal after which the court posted the matter to the next date since an adjournment was sought by the counsel for the accused.

Pradhuman was found with his throat slit in the school's washroom on September 8 and the Gurgaon Police had said the crime was committed by a school bus conductor, which was later refuted by the CBI.

The CBI claimed the 16-year-old teenager killed Class 2 student Pradhuman in a bid to get the school closed so that a scheduled parent-teacher meeting and an examination could be deferred.
Advocate Sushil Tekriwal Sushil Tekriwal, appearing for Pradhuman's father, Barun Thakur, said that the appeal for bail was at a "premature stage" as the investigation was yet to be concluded.
Tekriwal said the CBI has placed on record strong circumstantial evidence against the accused which was duly considered by the JJB while denying the relief.
The JJB had on December 20 held that the 16-year-old boy would be tried as an adult and directed that he be produced before the Gurgaon sessions court.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 lowers the age of juveniles from 18 years to 16 years for heinous crimes like rape, murder and dacoity-cum- murder, which warrant at least seven years of imprisonment.
However, the JJB first decides whether the crime committed has been "child-like" or was it committed in an "adult frame of mind", following which the JJB orders the accused to be tried as juvenile or adult.
The JJB had passed the order on a plea that the accused teenager should not be treated as a juvenile.
If convicted, he will stay in a correctional home till he is 21 years old after which the court can shift him to a jail or grant him bail, it had said.

The board had earlier rejected the bail plea of the Class 11 Ryan International School student, charged with killing Pradhuman on September 8.
It had set up a committee which included a psychologist from the PGI, Rohtak for an expert opinion on the accused, who had been taken into custody by the CBI last month.
The panel submitted its report in two sealed envelopes.
The JJB had noted that the accused was mature enough to recognise the consequences of his actions.