Ryan murder case : School trustees seek anticipatory transit bail

Mumbai, Sep 11 : The trustees of the Ryan International Schools on Monday filed an application in the Bombay High Court seeking anticipatory transit bail to move an appropriate court in Haryana in a seven-year-old's death at their Gurugram school, official sources informed here.

Augustine F. Pinto and his wife Grace Pinto, trustees of the St Xaviers Education Trust that manages the Ryan International Schools, have sought the bail.

"Yes, the trust's lawyers have moved an application for an anticipatory transit bail to enable them to go to Haryana and file an application before an appropriate court for relief," said an official connected to one of the schools in Mumbai, who declined to be identified.

The matter is likely to come up for hearing before the High Court on Tuesday, the official said.

The sudden move by the high-profile Pinto couple -- Augustine, a former Sheriff of Mumbai and Grace, close to the top-ranking Bharatiya Janata Party echelons -- came amidst reports that a Haryana Police team was expected to reach here and question them and other trustees.

However, the names and whereabouts of the other trustees of the St Xaviers Educational Trust -- registered as a Public Charitable Trust in Maharashtra in the early 1980s -- are not known and it is not clear whether they would be implicated in the case.

Despite repeated attempts by IANS, the besieged Pintos and their lawyers were not available for comments in the matter.

The fast-paced developments came in the wake of the brutal murder of a minor student, Pradhuman Thakur, on September 8, in the Ryan International School in Bhondsi on Sohna Road in Haryana's Gurugram, which has since snow-balled into a national issue concerning private schools.

Meanwhile, shaken by the incident, parents associations of at least half-a-dozen Ryan International Schools in Mumbai and elsewhere are planning to raise the issue of their children's safety with the managements.

Also on Monday, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre, the CBI, the Haryana government, the CBSE and the HRD ministry on the child's death.