TNN | Mar 23, 2014, 02.11 AM IST

LUCKNOW: The Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) of Lucknow has also recommended action against the schools which failed to provide appropriate records to ascertain the age of the accused in the Aashiana gang rape case. Accusing the schools of wasting the board's time by not providing correct documents, the board said that the schools have indirectly helped the accused.

The JJB (Lucknow) consists of principal magistrate Manoj Kumar and members Rashmi Rastogi and Dinesh Pandey.

The board also noted that if schools had maintained their admission records properly, the board would not have wasted nine years in ascertaining whether Gaurav Shukla was an adult at the time of crime or not. The delay also caused harassment of the victim and her family.

The board also maintained that people with criminal bent can take advantage of the flawed system and therefore called for action against the erring schools. The board hopes that the affiliating boards of these schools would initiate appropriate action to do away with the gap. The schools in question are affiliated to the ICSE and UP Board.

Gaurav Shukla, prime accused in the said case, alongwith five others allegedly abudcted the 13-year-old daughter of a scrap dealer, tortured her with cigarette burns and brutally raped her before dumping her on the street to die on May 2, 2005. While the proceedings of the case were on, Shukla's lawyer claimed that he was a juvenile at the time of the crime and therefore he should be tried under the JJ Act.

The board came out with its decision on January 15, 2013 — eight years after the incident — and stated that Shukla was not a juvenile at the time of crime. On Friday, the board upheld its order passed earlier. A copy of the order was received by the victim's family on Saturday. Now, the family can pursue the case in the session's court.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Lucknow/JJB-moots-action-against-erring-schools/articleshow/32513819.cms