Badlapur Sexual Assault: Bombay High Court Rejects Pre-Arrest Plea Of School Chairman And Secretary; Raps Police For Not Arresting Them

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday rejected the anticipatory bail applications filed by the chairman and secretary of the school in Badlapur where the two minor girls, studying in kindergarten were sexually assaulted by a sweeper in the toilet. 

Single-judge Justice Rajesh Laddha noted that the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was enacted to safeguard children from sexual crimes and thus opined that the interests of the children need to be prioritised over the interests of the perpetrators.

"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 Laddha said while rejecting the pre-arrest bail pleas.

The bench noted that the allegation against the duo was that despite being responsible for managing the operations of the school, they did not report the incident to the Special Juvenile Police Unit (SPJU) or the local police station, despite being aware of the unfortunate incident, which took place on August 12 and 13, this year. 

The bench refused to accept the argument of the applicants that they learnt about the incident only after August 16. It further junked the argument of the applicants, who doubted the actual incident, and contended that had the girls been subjected to sexual assault, medically, they would not have attended the school on the subsequent days. 

The applicants had pointed out that the victims were subjected to sexual assault, as per the prosecution, on August 12 and 13, however, both the girls attended the school on August 14 and even participated in the Independence Day celebrations on August 15, along with their families and that during all this, no one expressed any grievance. 

Rejecting this argument, Justice Laddha said, "There is prima facie material indicating that the guardians of the victims voiced their concerns to the teacher, principal etc on day of incident. There is material to show that they were aware of the same even before August 16. Despite having knowledge they did not report the incident."

To the argument of the applicants that there was delay on filing the First Information Report (FIR) in the instant case, the bench said, "This delay is primarily due to the applicants negligence for reasons known only to them."

Meanwhile, in a related development, a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan, pulled up the Maharashtra Police's Special Investigation Team (SIT) for failing to arrest the two higher-ups of the school. The judges were hearing a suo-motu PIL pertaining to the sexual assault of the minor girls in the school at Badlapur in Thane district. 

"Normally your police force goes to all possible extent, any State across the country, to trace an accused but why have you been unable to trace the chairman and the secretary of the school? Or are you waiting for the accused to get anticipatory bail?" Justice Chavan questioned State Advocate General Birendra Saraf.

However, AG Saraf strongly opposed to the judge's comment and said the same are 'unfair.' The Judge, however, explained that the moment the AG said the two accused are 'absconding' such queries are bound to follow.

Justice Mohite-Dere responding to AG's objection, later on observed, "We will not allow anybody to use us in their political discourse. We are here only to ensure that justice prevails. We are here to provide justice to everyone, whether it is a victim or an accused. Everyone must maintain the decorum of the court."

 Subsequently, AG Saraf assured the court that all efforts are being made to trace the absconding accused. 

The bench was also informed that the SIT has filed chargesheet against the prime accused, who was shot dead in an alleged fake 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. 

The division bench was further informed that the Committee headed by Justices Sadhana Jadhav and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi will soon be meeting and discussing how the guidelines to protect children in educational institutions from such sexual offences. 

The bench has now adjourned the hearing in the suo motu PIL till October 23.