The Supreme Court, on 13 April, asked a French national, an active trustee of an international school in Mumbai, to surrender in three days in connection with a case of alleged sexual assault on a three-year-old girl.
The top court, however, barred him from entering the school premises and directed the trial court to decide the matter as per material available on record.
A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan clarified that the observations in the orders of the Bombay High Court and the sessions court are only in respect to the granting and cancellation of bail.
“The petitioner shall surrender within three days. However, he will not visit the school. We make it clear that the observations of the sessions court as well as the high court are only in the context of granting and cancellation of bail. Needless to stay, the trial court is required to finally decide the matter on the basis of evidence which is produced before the court,” the bench said.
Background of the Case
The 57-year-old French national, Brillant Patrcik Mauris, who is the trustee of a renowned school in suburban Andheri allegedly sexually assaulted a three-year-old girl inside the school premises.
On 18 May, 2017, an FIR was lodged against Brilliant for sexually assaulting the child and but he was arrested on 7 November, nearly six months later, following the intervention of the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MSCPCR). He was granted bail by the trial court on 24 November, 2017.
Brilliant challenged a 2 April order of the high court that cancelled the bail granted by the trial court.
It had asked him to surrender forthwith before the authority concerned while asking the trial court to complete the proceedings in four months.
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