Bombay HC Denies Anticipatory Bail to Badlapur School Chairman, Secretary

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday denied anticipatory bail to the chairman and secretary of the Badlapur school where two kindergarten girls were sexually assaulted by a school attendant in August this year. Accepting the prosecution’s argument, the high court noted that the applicants hold important positions in the school and they could tamper with evidence or pressurise witnesses.

“Considering that the victims are minors, the trauma they have endeared will have a profound impact on their adolescent years, leaving long lasting and irreparable psychological scars. The applicants hold important positions in the school where the unfortunate incident took place, thus there are chances that they may tamper the evidence and pressurise the witnesses, who are employees of the school,” Justice Rajesh Laddha said while rejecting the pre-arrest bail pleas.

Two four-year-old girls were allegedly sexually abused by an attendant at a school in Badlapur — a far off suburb of Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The incident triggered massive protests, after which the state government formed a Special Investigation team and assured strict action against the culprit.

School attendant Akshay Shinde was the only accused person to be arrested in the case so far. He was killed in a police encounter last week while he was in police custody. The opposition has expressed doubts over the encounter calling it a “cover up” to protect high ranking officials.

Justice Laddha noted that the two applicants were responsible for managing the operations of the school. They are facing allegation that they did not report the offences, which took place on August 12 and 13 this year, to the Special Juvenile Police Unit (SPJU) or the local police station, despite being aware of them.

The applicants claimed that the victims attended school on August 14 and participated in the Independence Day celebration on August 15 accompanied by parents, who did not raise any complaints or grievances about the August 13 till then. The applicants also claimed the victims appeared to be in good health, showing no signs of distress. Seeking pre-arrest bail, the applications argued that there was no need to recover any documents or evidence from them.

However, the prosecution opposed their pleas on the ground that the offences were serious and the applicants had the obligation to report the incidents immediately after the victims’ parents approached them. Appearing for the state, public prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar urged the court to deny the anticipatory bail applications.

Justice Laddha observed that the prima facie material indicates that the victims’ guardians voiced their concerns to the principal and other staff members and applicants were aware of it before August 16 when the police contacted them.

In a related development, a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan, pulled up the SIT for failing to arrest the two higher-ups of the school. The bench was hearing a suo-motu PIL pertaining to the Badlapur school sexual assault case.

Advocate General Birendra Saraf informed the division bench that the SIT has filed chargesheet against the prime accused Shinde, who was killed in the alleged police encounter and also the school principal. The second chargesheet has been against the chairman and secretary of the school, who are still on the large.