Juvenile board proceedings stayed

New Delhi, November 19

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the proceedings of the Gurugram Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) which was to consider afresh whether a teenager accused of killing a seven-year-old boy inside a private school should be tried as an adult in the case.

The JJB was directed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on October 11 to decide afresh in six weeks whether the teenager was to be tried as an adult.

A Bench of Justices RF Nariman and Navin Sinha said there would be status quo on the proceedings of the JJB and posted the matter for further hearing on January 21.

The Bench also issued notices to the teenager and the CBI and sought their response on a petition filed by the father of the victim through advocate Sushil Tekriwal. The father had challenged the High Court's October 11 order on the ground that it was illegal and contrary to established procedure of the law.

The High Court had allowed the petition of the accused, filed in July, challenging the decision of the JJB to try him as an adult in the murder case. The CBI, in a chargesheet, had alleged that the teenager had murdered the student on September 8 last year in a bid to get 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.

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.

The probe agency had earlier given a clean chit to school bus conductor Ashok Kumar, who was arrested by the Gurugram Police, saying there was no evidence to prove his involvement in the crime. — PTI