Details of the incident

On 8th September, 2017 a seven-year-old boy, Pradyuman Thakur, was found with his throat
slit in the washroom of Ryan International School in Gurugram 15 minutes after he was
dropped off by his father. He was rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead. 1 Seven
hours later the police told the media that they had the killer. According to the police, Bus
conductor Ashok Kumar who was masturbating in the washroom when interrupted by the
victim; upon which he sodomised him and killed him. Thereafter he went out and washed his
hands and shirt at the water cooler to wipe off the blood. Meanwhile, a class 11 student found
the dead body inside the toilet. He immediately informed the gardener. The Police also claimed
the Ashok Kumar had confessed to the crime. However, the forensic evidence failed to support
the police theory as there was no evidence of sexual assault on the victim. Furthermore, no
trace evidence in the form of semen or pubic hair was found on the crime scene. Based on this
the parents of the victim claimed that police investigation was botched up and demanded a CBI
investigation. 2

Finally, the Haryana Police handed over the case to CBI who starts the investigation afresh.
They question all the material witness and re-examine the crime scene. Upon examination of
the evidence they come across pieces of evidence which the Haryana Police had completely
ignored. The first one was a seven-second CCTV footage which showed the victim talking to
the 11th Standard student before entering the washroom.3 Although this CCTV footage was a
prime piece of evidence for the police, however, the police only looked at the part where Ashok
Kumar was washing his hands from the water cooler. Furthermore, upon re-examination the
accused retracted his confession and claimed that he was tortured by the police. Several other
witnesses also claimed coercion by the police. Furthermore, the murder weapon as well could
not be linked to the accused. Upon analysis of the evidence the CBI arrested the 11th Standard
student for questioning. Upon questioning, the juvenile admitted to the crime.4 Finally, the CBI

1
Staff Reporter, All about the Pradyuman Thakur murder case in 10 points, India Today, 8th November, 2017
Available at- https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/pradyuman-thakur-murder-ryan-international-school-
gurugram-cbi-1081642-2017-11-08
2
Staff Reporter, Ryan murder case: How cops blamed bus conductor for crime allegedly committed by student,
Financial Express, 12 February, 2018 Available at- http://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/ryan-murder-
case-how-cops-blamed-bus-conductor-for-crime-allegedly-committed-by-student/1062948/
3
Ibid-2
4
Staff Reporter, Ryan school murder case: Class 11 student confessed he killed Pradyuman Thakur, says CBI, 9th
November, 2017, Live Mint Available at-
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/acQQwygFhJcUqOdo2VkrbM/Ryan-School-murder-Accused-Class-XI-
student-admits-killing.html
filled a detailed chargesheet against the student and the Juvenile Justice Board has determined
that the accused can be tried as an adult.5

Legal issues
This case has many legal aspects associated with it, however for the purposed for the present
analysis only two aspects are considered, the first one relates to tenability of confession made
to the police officer and the second would be the importance of the principles of forensic
science in investigation and how the same must be followed and adhered to in the criminal
investigation. Furthermore, since the case is sub-judice it is not possible to give a conclusive
finding as to the true state of affairs of this case and the analysis is based on available media
reports.

Conceptual Understanding of the Legal Provisions and Principles

Confession in police custody
Section 24-30 of the Indian Evidence Act read along with Section 164 of Criminal Procedure
Code lays down the law related to confession in India. In India a differentiation is made
between judicial and extra-judicial confession.6 A judicial confession is one which is made
during the course of the judicial proceedings, this also includes the statement recorded by the
magistrate under Section 164 of CrPC. Any confession made outside the scope of judicial
proceedings is called an extra-judicial confession. Hence, a statement made in the police
custody is an extra-judicial confession. Section 25 & 26 of the Indian Evidence Act,
specifically deal with confessions made to the police or in police custody. Section 25 states that
no confession made to the police officer can be proved against that person.7 Section 26 states
that confession made while in police custody can also not be made relevant against an accused.8
These sections have been subject to much interpretation and analysis by the Indian judiciary
which has interpreted the meaning of police officer and what is actually meant by the police
custody. It is interesting to note that there is a conflict of approach by the judiciary when it
comes to the interpretation of these terms; thereof whereas the term police custody has been
given a purposive and wide interpretation; police officer is construed narrowly. The approach
adopted by the Indian law is very different from law of other countries in this regard, under

5
Leena Dhanakar, Ryan school murder: Juvenile accused of killing Pradhyumn Thakur to be tried as adult, 20th
Decmber, 2017, Available at- https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/ryan-school-murder-16-year-old-accused-
in-pradhyumn-killing-to-be-tried-as-adult/story-LcbMMhbk1ITvLMbVJwWr8H.html
6
Dr V. Krishnamachari, Law of Evidence, Narendra Gogia & Company, 2013
7
Section 25, Indian Evidence Act
8
Section 26, Indian Evidence Act
English law a confession a confession made to a police officer is perfectly valid. However, due
the Indian conditions and lacunas in Indian investigation system such an approach is not
followed in India. Therefore, under the Indian law a confession made to the police cannot
stand unless supported by other corroborative evidence. This, also finds place in the Indian
Evidence Act in form of Section 27. Hence, a confession to be made relevant must be recorded
by the magistrate under Section 164 of CrPC. Section 164, empowers the magistrate to record
statements and confessions and lays down the procedure for the same. This provision also reeks
of the police distrust which permeates the Indian legislative approach to police officers.
Accordingly, the Magistrate while recording evidence must ensure that the evidence is not
given under the police threat and duress and hence accordingly the police officer must be
excluded from the proceeding. Additionally, the magistrate is duty bound to ensure that the
evidence is given voluntarily. He must explain the consequence of such confession in clear
language and must also remove the individual from police custody if need be. It is only this
confession which becomes a judicial confession and is admissible.9

Application of this principle

In the present case there are two sets of confession, one made by the conductor Ashok Kumar
and other made by the Juvenile. Both of these confessions were made to police officers and
none of them are recorded under Section 164 before the magistrate. Hence, both of these
confessions have very limited evidentiary value and cannot be proved against the individuals.
There is a slight difference as far as factual circumstances surrounding these confessions is
considered. The confession made by the conductor was made under suspicious circumstances
not backed by any evidence. However, as per the media report, as far as the confession made
by the Juvenile is considered it is made in the presence of the accused father and an independent
witness.10 However, this in itself does not clothe it with legality and make it judicial confession;
the fact still remains that it was an extra-judicial confession and is a very weak piece of
evidence.11 Furthermore, another important consideration is the fact that both of these
confessions were retracted. It should be noted here that the Indian Evidence Act makes no
distinction whatsoever between a retracted confession and an un-retracted confession and both
are equally admissible and may be taken into consideration against the accused though it may
be that less weight would be attached to a retracted confession.12 Furthermore, the court would

9
Supra Note 6
10
Supra Note 2
11
Supra Note 6
12
Supra Note 6
also consider a number of surrounding circumstances as far as the retraction of a confession is
considered. The court would consider the time period after which the confession was retracted
and whether the confession was made truthfully. In this case both of the confessions were
retracted as immediately and soon the influence was removed and hence the evidentiary value
of these evidence is very weak.

Principles of Forensic Science

Under Forensic Science, physical evidence is of extreme importance and is crucial to successful
conclusion of the case. It can establish the link between a crime and its victim or a crime and
its perpetrator. However, physical evidence can only achieve its optimum value in investigation
when the investigator is fully conversant with the crime laboratory’s techniques, capabilities
and limitation. A chain of custody must be maintained to preserve its evidentiary value.
Physical evidence is of many types and has a high evidentiary value and is used to corroborate
the police theories. 13

Applicability of this principle

In the present the first case failed and was asked to be re-investigated because of flaw in the
investigation technique adopted by the Haryana Police. The Haryana police filed a chargesheet,
however, the police’s theory had no collaboration with respect to the physical evidence. There
was no semen on the crime scene or on the clothes of the accused to suggest a sexual assault.
Furthermore, upon post-mortem investigation as well no injury was found on the deceased
which pointed towards a sexual assault.14 Additionally, the police were unable to identify the
murder weapon and the murder weapon which the police brought forward was not consistent
with the injuries. Furthermore, the police also ignored another important piece of evidence, i.e.
the CCTV camera footage. As against this, the CBI’s case, is atleast based on the available
data, makes a proper appreciation of the physical evidence involved in the present case. The
CBI took into consideration the CCTV footage and then zeroed in on the juvenile. They using
the principles of forensic science reconstructed the crime scene. Additionally, the murder
weapon was also traced back to the Juvenile. Juvenile’s fingerprint was also found on the crime
scene. Furthermore, it is also important to note that all of this is supported by eye witness
testimony.

13
BA Nabar, Forensic Science in Crime Investigation, Asia Law House,2017
14
Supra note 2
Analysis and Conclusion
An analysis of the principles of forensic science in Ryan Murder School Case brings forth the
problems and drawbacks of the Indian investigation system. In India, because of a combined
mistrust towards the police the statements made to the police are not admissible as evidence
This is not in line with the practice and procedure followed in other common law jurisdiction
including UK and US. The Law Commission looked at this aspect and suggested that an
exception that confessions made before higher officials of the police namely of the rank of
Superintendent of Police and above in certain cases of grave offences. If recorded following a
certain procedure be made admissible.15 This provision was applied to a limited extent under
TADA. However, post that it has been put into cold storage. In light of the present incident
coupled with other similar incident it is suggested that such a power in the hand of the police
would lead to great abuse and maladministration of justice. A culture of lack of accountability
permeates the criminal administration structure of India and for effective administration of
justice a change need to be brought about in the same. Although, forensic science has been
recognized as important aspect of criminal administration across the globe as well as in India.
Additionally, courts have also time and again stressed on the importance of forensic evidence.
Still in India the crime scene investigation is pitiable, and the same has been touted as one of
the reasons for low conviction rates in India. The cause of the same ranges from low budgetary
allocation to not sufficient laboratories to lack of awareness amongst the investigating bodies.
An effort needs to be made to sensitize the investigating bodies about the importance of
forensic science and proper procedure must be laid down for crime scene investigation,
including securing of crime scene.

15
Law Commission of India, 14th Report, 1958