The principal and three teachers of La Martiniere School, facing charges of abetment to the suicide of 13-year-old student Rouvanjit Rawla, on Friday moved a higher court against the magisterial order for their trial.
Claiming that the metropolitan judge of Bankshall Court had no jurisdiction to reframe charges, the teachers sought quashing of his order before Chief Sessions Court Judge Dipak Saha Roy.
On November 19, the magistrate had ordered that the four be tried under Section 305 (abetment to suicide of a child), Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and Section 34 (common intention) of IPC.
Section 305, if proved, can invite the death sentence.
Counsel for the teachers Sudipto Moitra submitted that there was no material in accusing them of abetting Rouvanjit's suicide.
He further submitted that the metropolitan judge had not given them any hearing before reframing the charges on a plea by the counsels of Rouvanjit's father Ajay Rawla, who claimed that the police had watered down charges against the teachers.
The chief judge fixed the matter for hearing again on December 18 as public prosecutor Ashok Bakshi, appearing for the state, prayed for time to study the case and its background.
Rouvanjit had been found hanging at his residence on February 12 this year, four days after being allegedly caned by the principal for misbehaviour and disobedience.
Principal Sunirmal Chakravarti and the three teachers -- Garnian, Partho Dutta and David Raun -- were arrested on October 4 for the suicide of the class VII student, but were given bail on the same day by the chief metropolitan magistrate as all the sections of IPC under which they were charged were bailable.
The case was filed by Ajay Rawla under Section 305 of IPC, but the police had filed lesser charges under Sections 323 and 324 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), Section 352 (punishment without grave provocation) and Section 23 of the Juvenile Justice Act (negligence of duty).
Ajay Rawla had filed a police complaint at the Shakespeare Sarani police station in Kolkata four months after the incident.
