Calcutta High Court Directs Police Commissioner To Monitor Probe Into Student's Death After Falling From School Building

The Calcutta High Court has directed the city’s Commissioner of Police, Vineet Goyal to monitor an ongoing probe into the death of a 16 year old, class 10 student who died after falling from the fifth-floor balcony of his school on September 3^rd.

The deceased’s father had lodged a murder case against the principal, vice-principal and two teachers of the Silver Point High School.

Stating that it was imperative for the cause of death to be identified, a single-bench of Justice Jay Sengupta ordered:

the investigating officer would seize the CCTV device by which the relevant video footage was captured…and obtain an opinion from a team of medical experts of the SSKM Hospital to be set up by the authorities about the nature of injuries and the cause of death. Let the report be filed on the next date in a sealed cover. The investigation be carried on under the direct supervision of the Commissioner of Police, Kolkata.

Petitioner, the father of the deceased, claimed that various latches had plagued the process of police investigation into the matter. He submitted his son was taken to a ‘far-off’ hospital and that there was an inordinate delay before conducting the inquest. He also submitted that no copy of the post-mortem report was handed over to the petitioner even after repeated requests and that the injuries detailed in the report were contrary to “what was visible to the bare eyes,” with the CCTV footage from the day of the incident being suspect as well.

State Counsel submitted that according to the inquest and post-mortem reports, the injuries on the deceased’s body were consistent with those to be found on someone whose death was caused by falling from a five-storied building.

Counsel for respondents argued that all efforts had been undertaken to save the boy and that the moment he had fallen, he was taken to the nearest accessible multispecialty hospital.

Court said it's a very "unfortunate incident" and directed for the CCTV and medical records to be preserved, and presented before it in the form of a report in a sealed cover, with the Commissioner of Police personally monitoring the probe.

Case: Sk. Pappu vs State of West Bengal and others

Case No: WPA 22664 of 2023

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