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Bail plea: No relief for Ryan bosses till Monday

A fresh plea is likely to be made on Monday, and until then, the trio's fate hangs fire.

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Three Ryan International School trustees on Saturday moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking protection from arrest a week after a Std II student was killed inside the school in Gurugram in a case that has rattled the nation. The court, though, hasn't admitted their anticipatory bail plea, saying the copy of the first information report (FIR) furnished along with the application wasn't legible. A fresh plea is likely to be made on Monday, and until then, the trio's fate hangs fire.

The Ryan bosses — founder Augustine Francis Pinto, 73, managing director Grace Pinto, 62, and their son, CEO Ryan Pinto — had first moved the Bombay High Court seeking interim relief after two top school officials were arrested in connection with the murder of seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur. But the Bombay HC rejected their plea.

Pradyuman was found with his throat slashed following a visit to the school washroom, moments after he was dropped off by his father. A school bus conductor, Ashok Kumar, accused of killing the boy, has been arrested. He was present in the washroom when the boy went in, security footage that caught the child's last moments alive has revealed. Pradyuman is seen crawling out of the bathroom and collapsing next to a wall. A first information report (FIR) was registered at Bhondsi police station, Gurugram, on September 8.

In the plea submitted on Saturday through their counsel, AS Cheema, the Pinto couple said they were senior citizens suffering from various illnesses which might aggravate if they were to be arrested. They said they would cooperate with the investigations.

"But there has been an objection by the court pertaining to the FIR copy. We will file a fresh bail application on Monday," Cheema told DNA.

Since the District Bar Association Gurugram and Sohana decided that none of their members would represent the Pintos at any forum, the couple had to approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the plea says.

"There was not an iota of allegations against the owners and they have not even been named in the FIR which has been lodged under section 302 and relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Arms Act. The day-to-day management of the school is done by a management committee which is locally available, while they are trustees of more than 54 schools run across the country and are residents of Mumbai," the plea further states.

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