Kathua Rape-Murder Case : Supreme Court Sets Aside Order Which Declared One Accused As Juvenile; Directs To Prosecute Him As An Adult

The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the orders of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kathua and the Jammu and Kashmir High Court which held that one of the accused in the Kathua rape-murder case was a juvenile.

The Apex Court has directed that the said accused Shubham Sangra should be tried as an adult.

A bench comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi and Justice JB Pardiwala allowed the appeal filed by the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir against the orders of the CJM and the High Court.

"It is held that the respondent accused was not a juvenile at the time of the commission of the offence and should be tried the way other co-accused were tried in accordance with law", Justice Pardiwala read out the operative portion of the order.

Pronouncing the verdict, Justice Pardiwala stated that medical expert's estimate regarding the age of the accused is not a statutory substitute for proof and is only an opinion.  

The case relates to the brutal gang-rape and murder of an eight year old girl in Kathua village in 2019. In June 2019, a Special Court at Pathankot had sentenced three men to life imprisonment in the case. The Court also sentenced three police officers to 5 years imprisonment for causing destruction of evidence.  The trial of Shubham Sangra was shifted to the Juvenile Justice Board. Shubham Sangra was the nephew of main accused Sanji Ram, who was the caretaker of the temple where the offence took place. The Supreme Court had transferred the trial of the case from Kathua to Pathanktot in Punjab in view of the obstruction of justice by lawyers, who protested against the police arresting the accused.

Case : THE STATE OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR (NOW U.T. OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR) AND ORS Versus SHUBAM SANGRA| Crl.A. No. 1928/2022

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