Can plead juvenility even after final disposal of case, says Punjab and Haryana High Court

Tribune News Service

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, January 16

In a significant judgment on determining the age of an accused, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that a plea of juvenility can be raised in any court at any stage. A Division Bench also ruled that the plea can even be raised after the final disposal of the case.

The accused will be entitled to the benefit of juvenility, if found to be a juvenile, even in cases where the offence was committed before the enactment of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.

The ruling came as the Bench of Justice Harinder Singh Sidhu and Justice Lalit Batra made it clear that the court was obliged to consider the plea of juvenility before granting appropriate relief to a youngster held guilty before being convicted and sentenced in a murder case over 10 years ago.

The petitioner had moved the High Court seeking an inquiry for determining his age as contemplated under the Act of 2000, before declaring him a “juvenile in conflict with the law” in the case registered in October 1995.

Speaking for the Bench, Justice Batra asserted that the Act of 2000 came into force on, and with effect from, April 1, 2001, after repealing the Act of 1986. The petitioner’s trial commenced on November 4, 2011, and he was eventually convicted and sentenced by the trial court in September 2012. His appeal was dismissed by the High Court in October 2013. As such, the Act of 2000, raising the age of juvenility from 16 to 18 years, was in force. Section 20 of the Act made it clear that the determination of juvenility was required to be done in all pending matters.

Justice Batra observed: “It is, thus, well settled that in terms of Section 20 of the Act, 2000, in all cases where the accused was above 16 years but below 18 years of age on the date of occurrence, the proceedings pending in the court would continue and be taken to the logical end subject to an exception that upon finding the juvenile to be guilty, the court would not pass an order of sentence against him, but the juvenile would be referred to the Juvenile Justice Board for appropriate orders under the Act of 2000”.

Justice Batra added that Section 7A of the Act of 2000 stated that the sentence, if any, passed by a court would be deemed to have no effect. Even though the offence in the case in hand was committed before the enactment of the Act of 2000, the petitioner was entitled to the benefit of juvenility under Section 7A, if it was found on inquiry that he was less than 18 on the date of the alleged offence.

“In the case of the petitioner, his appeal had also been dismissed by this court on October 1, 2013. However, this court is still obliged to consider the plea of juvenility taken by the petitioner and grant him appropriate relief. The fact that the Act of 2000 has later been replaced by the Act of 2015 would make no difference,” Justice Batra concluded.

Entitled to benefit

The accused will be entitled to the benefit of juvenility, if found to be a juvenile, even in cases where the offence was committed before the enactment of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000. — Bench

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