The Himachal Pradesh high court on Wednesday cancelled the bail granted to four accused students in the Aman Kachroo ragging case and directed them to surrender before the fast track court at Dharamsala by Thursday.
Quashing the order of the fact track court, Justice D D Sood also asked it to hear the case on a day-to-day basis and avoid unnecessary adjournments.
The fast track court at Dharamsala had granted bail to the accused Ajay Verma, Naveen Verma, Abhinav Verma and Mukul Sharma, charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, on July 17. Aman Kachroo, 19, a MBBS student at the Dr R P Government Medical College, Tanda (Kangra) was allegedly thrashed by four seniors on March 7, 2009. He succumbed to his injuries the next day.
Welcoming the court's order, Aman's father Rajendra Kachroo said, "It is a good development. The message that had gone across the last time was incorrect and it has been rectified. I am glad to say it has been rectified".
He also welcomed the court's instruction to the lower court to conduct the trial on a daily basis.
"There will be no adjournments, no wastage of time and that is probably a lot more important," he said.
Earlier, taking suo moto notice of news reports, Justice Sood had issued notices to the accused, asking them why the bail granted to them should not be cancelled and directed them to appear in the court on July 24.
The case was adjourned on July 24 and the arguments of both the defence and prosecution were heard on July 26. The court had reserved the judgment till today. The government had also filed an application in the fast track court for cancellation of bail but the same could not be heard as the high court refrained the fast track court from proceeding further in the case till the matter was decided by the high court.
During the arguments on July 26, Advocate general R K Bawa had refuted the arguments of the defence that Aman Kachroo's death might have been caused due to some heart problem. He pointed out that his post mortem ruled out the possibility of any heart disease.
"Since the accused Naveen, Abhinav and Mukul are already facing charges of rioting, criminal intimidation, carrying weapons and trespassing, the order of bail suffers from judicial impropriety and is illegal," he had argued.
Aman Kachroo's death had sent shock waves in the state and the government not only ordered a magisterial enquiry to ascertain the cause of death but also passed the Anti Ragging Act, providing for stringent punishment in such cases.
The magisterial inquiry into the incident concluded that Aman Kachroo died due to the injuries sustained in ragging on March 7 and also held the Principal of the College Suresh Sankhyan responsible for it.