Jamshedpur, March 17: The court of chief judicial magistrate P.K. Maitra today granted bail to the principal and the games teacher of DAV Public School, Bistupur, in the Harshdeep Singh Kalsi death case.

The principal of DAV, Bistupur, Papiya Mukherjee, and the games teacher, Kavita Swain, surrendered before the court, which subsequently granted bail to them.

Mukherjee and Swain had obtained anticipatory bail late last week. It was mandatory for the principal and games teacher to surrender and obtain regular bail from the lower court within 10 days of that date, sources said.

The sources added that the court had granted anticipatory bail based on the report of deputy superintendent of police Dinesh Oraon, who supervised the probe into the Harshdeep case.

In his inquiry report submitted about two weeks ago, Oraon had found the principal and games teacher responsible for negligence resulting in Harshdeep’s death.

With the DAV officials managing to secure bail, tongues have started wagging about the role of the police in the episode. Residents criticised the police for not acting faster and arresting the duo.

“It’s surprising that the police sat over the matter and the principal and the games teacher got bail. This shows that there is something wrong with the way the police acted,” said a resident of Bistupur.

“Would the superintendent of police not have initiated any action if a common man was involved? He should have taken prompt action after the inquiry report was submitted by his subordinate. He should have ordered the arrest of the principal as well as the games teacher even if under a bailable section.”

Superintendent of police Naveen Kumar Singh said he has not seen the report. “I am yet to go through the inquiry report. Why is there so much hue and cry over the DAV case?” he asked.

The police had to release the principal and the games teacher on bail even if they had been arrested, he said. They could have been booked under Section 304(A), which is a bailable offence, Singh said.

When told that the principal and the games teacher obtained bail, Singh said they have made the job of the police easier. “Surrendering and obtaining bail proves that they are admitting to their guilt. They have made the job of the police easier.”