Badlapur Sexual Assault Case: Bombay HC slams cops for failure to arrest two school trustees

Bombay High Court on Tuesday pulled up the special investigation team probing the Badlapur sexual assault incident and questioned why they have still not arrested the two trustees of the school.

"The police goes outside (the state) to nab (an accused). How come they have not been able to apprehend these two? Are they waiting for them to get anticipatory bail," asked a division bench of justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Prithviraj Chavan.

HC was hearing the suo motu PIL after the assault incident when two kindergarten students of a school were sexually assaulted in the school's toilet by one of the employees.


The observations came on a day when another bench rejected the anticipatory bail plea filed by the chairman and secretary of the school. The court held that the school management was 'prima facie' aware of the incident before August 16.

"The victims are minors. The trauma that they have endured will have a profound impact on their adolescent years leaving them with 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 (with) the evidence and pressurise the witnesses, who are employees of the schools," said a bench of justice RN Laddha while rejecting their bail applications.

The two accused, who have been booked under the POCSO Act for not reporting the incident to the police after they came to know of it, had claimed in their bail pleas that they were not aware of the incident.

However, HC said: "There is prima facie material indicating that the parents of the victim had voiced their grievances to the class teacher and other staff members. The applicants were aware of the incident before August 16. Despite having knowledge, they did not report the incident to the police." On August 16, FIR was filed against accused Akshay Shinde, the school cleaner. Justice Laddha observed there was a legal obligation on people to report the offence if they were made aware of it and referred to provisions of the POCSO Act as well as Supreme Court judgements.