JJ Act | Plea Of Juvenility Can Be Raised At Any Stage Even After Disposal Of Case : Supreme Court

Observing that the plea of juvenility of the accused may be raised before any court at any stage, even after final disposal of the case, the Supreme Court held that such a plea of juvenility couldn't be rejected without conducting a proper inquiry.

Unconvinced with the approach of the High Court for not adverting to the prayer of the appellant/accused to consider his plea of juvenility as per the law, the bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta observed that “proper inquiry in accordance with the provisions of the JJ Act, 2000 or the JJ Act, 2015 was not carried out so to consider the prayer made by the appellant to be treated as juvenile on the date of the incident even though the plea was raised at the earliest opportunity. It can be said without a cavil of doubt that the plea of juvenility raised by the appellant could not have been thrown out without conducting proper inquiry.”

Noting that the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015 provides a comprehensive mechanism to consider the prayer of juvenility of an accused claiming to be a child on the date of the commission of the offence, the Judgment authored by Justice Sandeep Mehta observed that “the proviso to Section 9(2) of the JJ Act, 2015 clearly enumerates that plea of juvenility may be raised before any Court and it shall be recognised at any stage, even after final disposal of the case. The High Court, however, did not consider and decide the prayer of juvenility raised on behalf of the appellant.”

The court took reference to the case of Abuzar Hossain vs State of West Bengal, where also the court held that the claim for juvenility may be raised at any stage before any court, even after the disposal of the case. Further, it was also observed that delay in raising the plea of juvenility cannot be a ground for rejection of such a claim.

“For making a claim with regard to juvenility after conviction, the claimant must produce some material which prima facie may satisfy the court that an inquiry into the claim of juvenility is necessary. Initial burden has to be discharged by the person who claims juvenility.”, the court also observed in Abuzar Hossain.

Noting that the High Court and Trial court committed error for not adverting to the plea of juvenility of the appellant claiming that he was juvenile when the offence was committed by him, the court directed the Additional Sessions Judge, Darbhanga to conduct a thorough inquiry to determine the age/date of birth of the appellant in accordance with the procedure provided under the JJ Act, 2015 and the rules framed thereunder.

Counsels For Appellant(s) Mr. Aviral Kashyap, AOR Mr. Ashish Jha, Adv. Mr. Prabhsharan Singh Mohi, Adv. Mr. Rauf Rahim, Sr. Adv. Mr. Abhijeet Chatterjee, Adv. Mr. Subodh Kr. Pathak, Adv. Ms. Barnali Basak, Adv. Mr. Shashi Ranjan, Adv. Mr. Pawan Kumar Sharma, Adv. Mr. Akash Swami, Adv. Mr. Dharmendra Kumar Sinha, AOR

Counsels For Respondent(s) Mr. Azmat Hayat Amanullah, AOR

Case Title: RAHUL KUMAR YADAV VS. THE STATE OF BIHAR

Citation : 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 341

Click here to read the order