School murder: CBI wants teenager shifted to Karnal

The CBI said, in its reply sought by the court in an earlier hearing, that he should not be given special treatment. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled on May 7.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an eight-page reply in a city court on Saturday recommending that the teenager accused of killing an eight-year-old boy inside a private school in Bhondsi in 2017 should be shifted from an observation home in Faridabad to an institution in Karnal as he had turned 18.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an eight-page reply in a city court on Saturday recommending that the teenager accused of killing an eight-year-old boy inside a private school in Bhondsi in 2017 should be shifted from an observation home in Faridabad to an institution in Karnal as he had turned 18. (AP)

The CBI said, in its reply sought by the court in an earlier hearing, that he should not be given special treatment. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled on May 7.

The accused turned 18 last month, following which the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) ordered that he be shifted to Place of Safety, an institution for boys accused of heinous crimes, in Karnal. The order was challenged by the teenager’s father who filed a petition in the court on April 11, seeking that the boy be allowed to stay in Faridabad.

“The safety and security of inmates at the place of safety cannot be questioned by a juvenile without visiting the place. It is the duty of the state to provide all facilities to inmates under the act wherever he or she is kept, whether it is the observation home or the place of safety. Not only the appellant, but several other juveniles in conflict with the law have been shifted to the same place of safety without any prejudice, hence the submission of appellant is not maintainable. All the apprehension is based on surmise and conjecture,” the CBI reply stated.

Amit Jindal, public prosecutor, CBI, said the juvenile in this case had now become adult and hence the place of residence had to be decided as per provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, which state that inmates above 18 years of age have to be shifted to special homes. “The observation home is meant for minors only and adults cannot be kept with minors. In the present case, the juvenile has attained the age of maturity and in no condition can he be kept there. The distance is no grounds for not shifting him to Karnal. No special treatment can be extended to a single juvenile in conflict with the law,’ he submitted in the reply.

The father of the accused, in his petition, had requested that if, during inquiry, it was found that an inmate hailed from a place outside a certain jurisdiction, the board members could shift the inmate to his home district. The principal magistrate of the JJB, Manglesh Kumar Choubey, had, on April 11, passed an order to shift the inmate to the Place of Safety at Madhuban in Karnal.