After hearing day-long arguments on the decision of the fast track court to grant bail to all the four accused in the Aman Kachroo ragging and death case,the Himachal Pradesh High Court today reserved the orders for July 28. All the accused are students of Dr Rajendra Prashad Medical College at Tanda in Kangra district. The 19-year old first year MBBS student,Aman Kachroo,had died on March 8 after he was allegedly ragged by his seniors a night before. In its suo motu action last week,the High Court had issued notices to the accused and also the state government. Facing murder charges,all the accused Ajay Verma,Naveen Verma,Abhinav Verma and Mukul Sharma were also present in court on Monday. Justice Dev Darshan Sud,who is heading the Bench,has already summoned records from the fast track court at Dharamshala and,on Saturday last,had restrained the trial court from passing the order since the issue was already under consideration of the Bench here. The state government has also filed an appeal before the fast track court seeking the cancellation of the bail claiming that releasing the accused on bail will send a wrong message to the society,especially when the menace of ragging has assumed an alarming proportion in educational institutions. Leading a team of three prominent lawyers,M S Chandel,a former advocate general,strongly argued to defend the July 17 decision of the fast track court to grant bail. The court has acted absolutely within the parameters of law and weighed material evidence before taking a decision on the bail plea. There are no adverse circumstances that warrant cancellation of the bail or intervention of the High Court, he asserted. Chandel,joined by two other defence lawyers Sravan Dogra and Jagdish Vats,contested the prosecution theory about ragging being a cause of Aman Kachroos death and instead maintained that he was suffering from some heart ailment - which may have turned out to be the reason for the loss of life. Dogra spoke strongly against media alleging that some wrong perception has been created about the case and asserted that accused have become victims of media trial an argument instantly rejected by Justice Sud during the hearing. Bawa also quoted the statements of the studentswho were victims of ragging alongwith Aman Kachroo and claimed the postmortum report doesnt have any reference about the deceased being a heart patient. The death had sparked an outrage in the country. The government not only ordered a magisterial inquiry later but also passed the Anti-Ragging Act providing for stringent punishment in such cases. The principal of the college,S Sankhayan,was also placed under suspension after Supreme Court orders,and he still faces an inquiry.
