The judgement is significant, because if a person is proved to have been juvenile when he/she committed crime, ordinary court cannot conduct the trial, as per the Juvenile Justice Act.
If a person brought before the court claims to be a juvenile (under the age of 18), the court must ascertain his age immediately, high court has held in a recent case.
The judgement is significant, because if a person is proved to have been juvenile when he/she committed crime, ordinary court cannot conduct the trial, as per the Juvenile Justice Act. Person has to be sent to Juvenile Justice Board.
In this case, one Rafiq Ahmed, the petitioner, was charged with murder and rioting, and was arrested in May 2008.
When he was brought before the magistrate at Malegaon in Nashik district, he claimed that he was a minor when the alleged crime took place, so he should be tried by Juvenile Justice Board. He relied on his birth certificate to substantiate his claim.
But the prosecution challenged his claim, saying that birth certificate was not genuine. It also pointed out that in his bail application, he had stated that he was 19.
The magistrate, after referring to prosecution's arguement, rejected his application, saying that "issue (of age) can be resolved only after evidence is led during the trial." He filed an appeal in the High Court against this ruling.
His lawyer pointed out that as per the Juvenile Act, whenever the court thinks that the accused is a minor, or the accused claims to be a minor, court must ascertain his/her age. The high court upheld this arguement. Justice SA Bobde held, "This law (Juvenile Justice Act) has been enacted, in discharge of the primary responsibility of the state for ensuring that all the needs of the children are met and their basic rights are fully protected..."
Justice Bobde said that if the magistrate did not believe the birth certificate, he "ought to have sought the opinion of medical board" to find out Rafiq's age.
The Court sent the case back to magistrate, directing the lower court to ascertain the age first, before proceeding with the trial. Under the Juvenile Justice Act, a juvenile criminal cannot be given death sentence or a life sentence, whatever his offence might be.
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