Delay in Raising Juvenility Claim is no Ground for Rejection of Such a Claim: Supreme Court

Delay in raising a claim of juvenility is no ground for rejection of claim

The delay in raising the claim of juvenility is no ground for rejection of such a claim, the Supreme Court observed. Justices Indira Banerjee and Krishna Murari further observed such claims can be raised at any stage and even after the final disposal of the case.

The applicant is convicted under section 302 of IPC

As reported here, the court was hearing an application filed by Isha Charan. She has been convicted under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced with life imprisonment concerning the incident which took place on 30th November 1982.

The applicant claims that she was a juvenile on the date of the incident

In her application, she placed reliance on a school certificate. According to her school certificate, she was 17 years, 1 month and 22 days old on the date of the incident placing her in the category of a juvenile.  As per, Section 2(k) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, a juvenile is a person who has not completed eighteen years of age.

The district and sessions judge is directed to make an enquiry into her juvenility and release her on conditional bail

Hence, Siddharth Nagar, the district and sessions judge, is directed by the court to conduct an inquiry into the juvenility of the applicant Isha Charan. This report should be submitted to the Court within one month of the Supreme Court's order. The Apex court also directed that Ms Charan should be released on conditional bail.