Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday (October 1) rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of two accused school trustees – the chairman and secretary of the school -of Badlapur sexual assault case, saying the offence was serious and that despite being aware of the alleged incident, they failed to report about it to the police or local authority.
Justice RN Laddha, while rejecting the anticipatory bail pleas of the duo, noted that the victims, two kindergarten girls, are minors and the trauma they have endured can profoundly affect their adolescent years leaving them with lasting psychological scars.
A case was registered against school’s chairman and secretary under POCSO Act
A case was registered against the school’s chairman and secretary under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSOA) Act for their failure to report the incident to police immediately after the incident came to light and caused widespread outrage.
The High Court noted that there is a legal obligation to report an offence under POCSO Act if a person is aware about it or made aware of it and said that the repercussions of failure to report such offences are serious.
The High Court further noted that offence was serious and the accused persons, who were the chairman and secretary of the school where the alleged sexual assault of two kindergarten girls took place in August, were responsible for the management of the school. It also noted that CCTV footage of the school premises from the day of the incident was missing.
Prima facie there is material to show that chairman, secretary were aware of alleged incident before August 16: High Court
The High Court observed that prima facie there is material to show that the chairman and secretary of the school were aware of the alleged incident before August 16, but they failed to take any steps to report the incident to the police or local authority.
“There is prima facie material indicating that the victims’ parents had voiced their grievances to the class teacher and other staff members. The applicants were aware of the incident before August 16. Despite having knowledge, they did not report the incident to police,” the High Court said and added that the delay in registering a police complaint was primarily because of negligence of the applicants/accused for reasons known only to them.
Chairman, secretary moved High Court after they failed to get pre-arrest bail from sessions court
The chairman and secretary of the school had moved the high court seeking anticipatory bail after they failed to get relief from a sessions court. They have claimed that they were unaware of the incident and have also raised suspicion about the incidents.
A division bench earlier in the day reprimanded SIT for its inability to arrest chairman, secretary
Earlier in the day, a division bench comprising Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Prithviraj Chavan reprimanded the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for its inability to arrest the chairman and secretary of the school.
“The police goes to any extent to nab an accused. How come they have not been able to apprehend these two? Are they waiting for them to get anticipatory bail?” the division bench of the High Court asked, news agency PTI reported.
Advocate General Birendra Saraf told the bench that the SIT was taking all steps to apprehend the chairman and secretary of the school.
The division bench sought the details of the action taken against the errant police officials of Badlapur for their failure to register a First Information Report (FIR) promptly and investigate the case properly and posted the matter for further hearing on October 23.
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