The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed a petition from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking transfer of the trial in the murder of a seven-year-old student of a Gurugram school to a the court of a special judge in Panchkula.
The CBI has an exclusive court of the special judge at Panchkula with jurisdiction over all of Haryana, and contended that since the CBI investigated the case, the Panchkula court has exclusive jurisdiction to try it. The CBI’s petition has been pending since 2018.
The bench of justice Manisha Batra held that under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015... the trial of a child directed to be tried as an adult must be held by a children’s court is a sine qua non (mandatory requirement). “The trial can, at the most, be transferred from one children’s court to another children’s court, if a case for the same is made out. It cannot be transferred to a court which does not answer the description of a children’s court,” it stated.
The bench underlined that the crime took place in Gurugram, the family of the victim and accused are all located there, and the trial is underway before the children’s court at Gurugram. “Any transfer at this advanced stage would only delay the trial further. It would not be in the interest of the prosecution, the family of the deceased or accused,” it said.
{{/usCountry}}The bench underlined that the crime took place in Gurugram, the family of the victim and accused are all located there, and the trial is underway before the children’s court at Gurugram. “Any transfer at this advanced stage would only delay the trial further. It would not be in the interest of the prosecution, the family of the deceased or accused,” it said.
{{/usCountry}}A Class 2 student of a prominent school in Gurugram’s Bhondsi was found dead inside the school washroom on September 8, 2017. Haryana Police, which initially investigated the murder, arrested the conductor of a school bus the same day and said that he had confessed to the crime. However, the CBI, which took over the case in November 2017, apprehended the accused, who was studying in Class 11 of the same school, on November 7.
In December 2017, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) decided to treat the accused as an adult. However, the high court, in October 2018, directed the board to undertake a fresh assessment. Both the victim’s father and CBI, moved the Supreme Court, arguing that the high court’s move was wrong and illegal. In July 2022, the apex court said that when considering whether a person is an adult, one should look at their physical maturity, cognitive abilities, and social and emotional competencies. Subsequently, the JJB also sought help from the Institute of Mental Health, University of Health Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak, and in October 2022 held that the boy is to be tried as an adult. The trial is underway at a Gurugram court.
The court also directed the additional sessions judge-cum-children’s court, Gurugram, to proceed with the trial and make every endeavour to conclude it as expeditiously as possible, preferably within six months, subject to cooperation by the parties. The court also directed the CBI to ensure the presence of its witnesses on the dates fixed by the trial court. The trial court may record the evidence of official and outstation witnesses through video conferencing, it added.
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