New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday set aside the orders of the Allahabad High Court and a trial court declaring an accused in a murder case to be a juvenile and held that he was a major at the time of commission of the alleged offence in 2011.
A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Ahsanuddin Amanullah noted that the accused was released by the Juvenile Justice Board upon completing three years and directed him to appear before the trial court within three weeks, saying he shall be at liberty to seek bail in the case.
The bench noted that though the certificate issued by the first school attended by the accused recorded his date of birth as April 18, 1995, the family register maintained under the UP Panchayat Raj Act, 1947 recorded his year of birth as 1991.
It further noted that the entry in the voters’ list of 2012 mentioned his age as 22 years as of January 1, 2012.
The top court delivered its judgment on an appeal filed by the appellant, on whose complaint an FIR was lodged in the murder case, challenging a March 2016 verdict of the high court.
The Allahabad High Court had upheld a trial court’s order declaring the accused a juvenile under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
“Having bestowed anxious thoughts to the issue, we find that the approach adopted by the trial court as well as the high court was not proper,” the top court said.
It said the allegation against the accused was that he had shot the victim, resulting in his death.
It said the first school certificate, where the accused was admitted, recorded his date of birth as April 18, 1995.
The bench said it was also relevant to indicate that the school’s headmaster had deposed that birth date entry was made only on an oral representation by the father of the accused.
“On the other side, the appellant produced the relevant page from a family register maintained under the UP Panchayat Raj Act, 1947, which records the year of birth of the respondent no. 2 (accused) as 1991,” it said.
It noted the appellant had also relied on a report of the medical board which was constituted under a reference made by the trial court when the plea of juvenility was raised before it.
The bench said the medical board had said that he was aged about 22 years, which would make him between 20-21 years of age as on the date of the incident.
“Accordingly, for the reasons aforesaid, the declaration of respondent no. 2 as a ‘juvenile’ being plainly improper, the impugned order as well as the order dated May 19, 2015 of the trial court holding the respondent no. 2 to be a ‘juvenile’ are hereby set aside,” it said.
The bench said the accused is liable to be tried as a major in the case registered at the Kairana police station.
It directed the trial court to conclude the trial on a priority basis, the latest by the end of July 2026. PTI ABA ABA KSS KSS
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