Gurugram, Jan 9: The Gurgaon district court on Monday fined the father of the minor accused in the murder case of a seven-year-old student with Rs 21,000 for wasting the court’s time. The court also restricted the media from revealing the names of the victim and the accused as both were minors.
The additional district sessions court JS Kundu gave alternative names to be used during reporting for the media: the court ordered the accused to be referred to as Bholu and the victim to be Prince. The school where the crime was committed will be referred to as Vidyalaya.
The court denied Bholu bail, upholding the decision of the Juvenile Justice Board. The court said that the bail plea had no merit and it should be penalised.
“The Juvenile Justice Act demands speedy and expeditious disposal of the inquiry as well as the investigation. The present case was registered on September 8, 2017. Thereafter, the matter was transferred to the CBI on September 22 for further investigation. The juvenile was produced before the board by the CBI on November 8, and as per Rule 10(5), the investigation has not been completed within the prescribed period of one month. In the given situation, the juvenile should be given the benefit of default bail,” TOI quoted the argument of the accused’s counsel.
The CBI said that there was no limit for the completion of investigation when it came to heinous crimes. The CBI said that in cases of grave offences, it takes more time to collect incriminating evidence. The agency further said that the bail application was moved to divert the course of investigation. It further accused the counsel of wasting times in appeal.
The court said that no media report must mention the name of the child in contravention of the law or the names of the victim, the school, or their addresses that might result in the identification of the children involved.
Bholu was arrested allegedly for slashing Prince’s throat outside school toilet. Both were students of the same school and had known each other as they attended piano classes together.