The Bombay High Court on Thursday dismissed the anticipatory transit bail applications of the three trustees of St Xaviers Education Trust that manages Ryan International Schools across the country, but granted them interim protection from arrest till 5 pm on Friday.
While rejecting their transit pre-arrest bail plea, Justice A.S. Gadkari directed the three trustees, Augustine F. Pinto, his wife Grace and their son Ryan, who are the founding chairman, Managing Director and CEO respectively, to deposit their passports with the Mumbai police by 9 pm on Thursday, failing which the interim protection would not be given.
“The applications stand rejected. The interim relief granted to them earlier shall continue till tomorrow 5 pm,”the judge said. The high court has given interim protection to Pintos to enable them to approach an appropriate judicial authority in Haryana in connection with a case registered by the police for the murder of a seven-year-old student, Pradhyuman B. Thakur, in Ryan International School in Gurugram. Pradhuman Thakur was found was found with his throat slit in a wash room at the school building around 8:30 am on September 8.
Sources close to the trust said that through their lawyers would either challenge the Bombay High Court’s order in the Supreme Court or move the Chandigarh High Court on Friday.
On Monday, Pintos had moved the Bombay High Court for an anticipatory transit bail so as to facilitate them to move an appropriate judicial authority in Haryana. Pintos’ application had come up for hearing on Tuesday but was adjourned to Wednesday. The high court adjourned the hearing once again after the slain child’s father Barun Chandra Thakur made an intervening application before the High Court, seeking dismissal of the anticipatory transit bail plea filed by the three school trustees.
Besides, the victim’s father, Barun Chandra Thakur who had intervened through his lawyers Sushil K. Tekriwal and Mamta Tekriwal, the Parents Group for Students Welfare lawyer Manoj Dhall and the Ambedkar Students Association through lawyer Gunratan Sadavarte also strongly opposed the Pintos’ anticipatory transit bail application.
Raising a point of law, Tekriwal had argued that the Bombay HC had no jurisdiction in the matter as the tragic incident happened in Haryana.
Thakur had earlier on Monday filed a petition in the the Supreme Court, seeking a CBI inquiry into the death of his son. A SC bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud sought the replies of the Centre, the Haryana government and CBSE. The school, where Pradhyman was found murdered, is affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education. Apart from a CBI probe, Thakur has sought guidelines to fix responsibility of school managements.
Meanwhile, a visiting Haryana Police team on Tuesday questioned several staffers and manager of the Ryan International School at irs Kandivali headquarters in north Mumbai, examined documents and records.