A 16-year-old student, accused of killing seven-year-old school mate at a private school, will be tried as an adult in the sensational murder case, a sessions court held today.
Upholding the decision of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), Additional Sessions Judge Jasbir Singh Kundu said the juvenile board has taken into consideration all materials placed before it to establish “the physical and mental capacity to commit the crime” and there was no need for any intervention.
“The order of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) is legal, correct and holds merit. The order warrants no interference. The JJB has taken into consideration all the materials placed before it from the psychological and sociological findings and therefore it requires no intervention at this stage.
“There is sufficient material to establish that the physical and mental capacity to commit the crime and understand its consequences and hence the accused comes within the parameters of the newly amended Juvenile Justice Act,” the court said while dismissing three appeals filed by the accused student.
The 16-year-old student had challenged the December 20 order of the JJB that had held that the teenager would be tried as an adult in the murder case.
The CBI, in a charge sheet, had alleged that the teenager had murdered the student on September 8 last year in a bid to get the examinations postponed and a scheduled parent-teacher meeting cancelled.
The victim’s body, with the throat slit, was found in the washroom of the school at the Bhondsi area here.
The juvenile board had passed the order based on the sociological, psychological and physiological reports of the Class 11 student .
The court also rejected two other pleas filed by the accused that he should be asked to give finger prints and could be sent to CBI custody.
Advocate Sushil Tekriwal, lawyer for the seven-year-old victim, told mediapersons that the court in its order today has concurred with the JJB order and the accused will be treated as an adult.
The court had earlier granted time till July 4 to the CBI to file a supplementary charge sheet in the murder case.
The counsel for the a 16-year-old accused had challenged the JJB order, saying it was “bad in law” and passed without giving him proper opportunity to present his case.
Earlier, the court had barred the media from using the name of the 16-year-old juvenile accused in the case and asked it to use fictitious names instead.
While the seven-year-old victim was named “Prince” by the court, the juvenile accused was named “Bholu” and the school was referred to as “Vidyalaya”.
The probe agency had earlier given a clean chit to school bus conductor Ashok Kumar, who was arrested by the Gurgaon Police, saying there was no evidence to prove his involvement in the crime.
The CBI had taken up the case from the Gurgaon police on September 22, following a nationwide uproar over the gruesome killing.
