New Delhi, Jun 24 The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said it will pass an order on June 29 on whether to cancel the bail granted to a 57-year-old caretaker accused of raping a three-year-old girl inside a private school in west Delhi's Janakpuri area.
A vacation bench of Justice Vinod Kumar reserved his verdict on the pleas by Delhi Police, as well as the complainant, against the trial court's May 7 decision to release Lalit Kumar on bail in the case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the police, urged the court to cancel the bail, contending that it was not a case where the trial court should have given a reprieve to the main accused, i.e. the caretaker.
He submitted that it was a clear case of aggravated penetrative sexual assault under section 6 of the POCSO Act, which was punishable with a minimum term of 20 years in jail, as the child has already identified the perpetrator and made specific allegations.
"His presence is proved by the CCTV footage. The child has made specific allegations... The trial court erred in deciding the application in a causal manner," Raju said.
The counsel for the complainant mother also assailed the trial court's order and alleged that the accused's son tried to intimidate and threaten her.
The mother, who was physically present for the proceedings, told Justice Kumar that the son misbehaved with her in the court premises.
The counsel for the accused denied all allegations of sexual assault against him, stating that the "foundational facts" of the present case cannot be sustained.
He asserted that the caretaker has an unblemished career of 37 years, and no other child has made a complaint against him.
"You are defaming the school. Nothing happened in school," he argued, adding that there was no material to support the allegations.
(If there was blood, the child's) Clothes should have been stained. Where are the clothes," he questioned.
ASG Raju also urged the court to cancel the bail given to the co-accused teacher in the case on May 20.
The court listed the police's plea against the teacher's bail for hearing before the roster bench in July and granted her time to file her response.
The incident came to light on May 1 when the girl's mother filed a complaint at Janakpuri police station, alleging that her daughter was sexually assaulted during school hours by the accused.
According to the complaint, the child had gone to the school on April 30, the second day after her admission.
After returning home, she complained of pain. When questioned by her mother, the girl said that she was taken to an isolated area in the school, where the man allegedly assaulted her.
Based on the complaint by the child's mother, police registered a case under section 64(1) (punishment for rape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and section 6 (Punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act.
Police said the child identified the accused, following which the 57-year-old school caretaker was arrested on May 1. He was later produced before a court and sent to judicial custody.
However, he was granted bail by a court in Dwarka on May 7 despite strong opposition from the prosecution.
The teacher was arrested for allegedly concealing the incident from the authorities and was remanded in one-day police custody by the trial court on May 14.
The police subsequently moved the high court against the bail orders.
