Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Arif Ali Ansari, one of the four accused in the murder of Sapphire International School student Binay Mahto, a decision that promises to change the dynamics of the case that grabbed headlines earlier this year.

Justice Amitav Kumar Gupta heard defence and prosecution arguments for 20 minutes, but did not make any observation while allowing bail. Mathematics teacher Arif, lodged at Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi since February, was offered reprieve on two sureties of Rs 10,000 each.

Defence counsel Nilesh Kumar prayed for bail, reiterating that his client was "falsely implicated" in the February 5 Hardag campus murder of the Class VII boy and that the prosecution had so far failed to produce any evidence to prove Arif's direct involvement.

"Police arrested my client (Arif) on the basis of his own confessional statement, which had no corroborative evidence. When the crime was committed, my client was on Taurian World School campus. This is an admitted fact. It has been alleged (in the case diary) that around 9am on February 5, he had a telephonic conversation with his minor son (the 16-year-old prime accused in the case) during which he suggested ways to tamper with evidence. But, the prosecution has failed to give call record details. Besides, tampering with evidence is a bailable offence," advocate Kumar said.

It is an established truth that 12-year-old Binay's body was discovered in the small hours of February 5, an indication that Arif's minor children and wife, Sapphire Hindi teacher Nazia Hussain, followed his instructions issued much earlier than 9am to throw the boy off the teachers' hostel balcony. However, the discrepancy in timing in the police case diary gives Arif the leeway of not being labelled the mastermind behind tampering of murder evidence.

The defence counsel also contended that before his client was arrested, police were probing a sodomy angle, which changed all of a sudden. "In the case diary submitted in court, it is mentioned that four teachers were taken into custody for interrogation and police had secured permission for a polygraph test on at least one whom they suspected of sodomy. Suddenly after that, it mentioned confessional statement of Arif and his family."

Additional public prosecutor Manoj Kumar and counsel Vishal Tiwari protested the bail plea, stating that not being present at the crime scene did not make Arif innocent.

"There are instances of crimes being orchestrated from prison. It is an admitted fact that the petitioner (Arif) was a former teacher of Sapphire and his services were terminated after he was caught sending smut texts to a Class IX girl and for leaking question papers. Also, he has confessed to his crime. Police have already filed a charge sheet," Tiwari said in his arguments.

Binay's father Manbahal Mahto blamed "poor investigations" for Arif's relief. "On September 16, a PIL demanding CBI probe will be heard in the high court. We will base our arguments on today's development to seek independent investigations," Mahto said.