Latest news with #JuvenileJusticeBoard
Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Allahabad High Court sets aside Juvenile Justice Board, Pocso court orders; directs minor to be tried as ‘juvenile' and not as an adult
Stating that law is an evolving concept and has to keep pace with time, the Allahabad High Court allowed a criminal revision filed by a minor who had challenged the Juvenile Justice Board and Kaushambi Pocso court orders directing that he be tried as an adult in an alleged rape case involving a minor girl. The court observed, 'This court has no hesitation to hold that the nefarious effects of the visual mediums like television, internet, and social media on adolescents are not being controlled, nor it appears that the government can control the same, to prevent its deleterious effect on the adolescents, due to the uncontrollable nature of technologies involved. The 'Nirbhaya case' was an exception and not a general rule and all juveniles cannot be subjected and tried like adult without proper consideration of the overall social and psychological effects on their psyche.' The criminal revision claimed that the impugned orders wrongly held the revisionist to be tried as an adult, and his assessment by the Juvenile Justice Board, as well as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) court, is not in accordance with the law. The counsel for the revisionist submitted that in the case of both the assessment and medical reports, the experts held that the psychological assessment of the juvenile was suggestive of a mild deficit in intellectual functioning. But the Board had relied upon the allegations made in the First Information Report and the statement of the victim recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) by ignoring the clinical psychologist report and held that it was not bound by the reports submitted by the experts. The counsel argued that denying the expert report will frustrate the provisions of Section 15 (1) of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. The counsel for the State submitted that although the preliminary assessment report and the report of psychologist are in favour of the minor boy, the Board has recorded clear findings that the revisionist was able to understand the consequence of crime committed by him and, therefore, the Board was not bound to accept the report of the psychologist and held that the revisionist be tried as an adult. 'There is nothing on record to indicate that the revisionist is a predator on the prowl and is prone to repeating the offence without any provocation. He never indulged in any such or other offence earlier. Maturity of his mind has not been certified by the psychologist. Merely because he committed a heinous crime he cannot be put to par with an adult when his social exposure was also found to be deficient by the psychologist,' the high court stated in its order. 'In view of above consideration, the impugned judgments and orders passed by both the courts below are set aside. Criminal Revision is allowed. The revisionist is directed to be tried as a juvenile by the Juvenile Justice Board in accordance with law,' the court added.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Time of India
Teen kills friend over GF's private photos; 5 held
Agra: A 17-year-old boy, his girlfriend, and three of his other friends have been arrested in Muzaffarnagar district for allegedly murdering a 22-year-old man who blackmailed the girl using private photos and her contact details, which he had stolen from the boy's phone, police said on Thursday. The incident took place near Khanpur village under the Mansoorpur police station limits. On Sunday night, the accused lured Anuj Kumar to a closed liquor shop near a school under the pretext of watching a kanwar yatra procession. There, he was stabbed to death and his body was found in a nearby field the next morning. Police said the minor was enraged after learning that Anuj had accessed private photos of his girlfriend and was pressuring her to meet him. He then conspired with her and three of his friends to carry out the murder. "A knife used in the murder and two mobile phones have been recovered. The phones will be sent for forensic analysis," said SP (City) Satyanarayan Prajapat. The FIR was registered on Wednesday under Section 103(1) (murder) of the BNS. All five accused, including the boy and the girl, will be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, police said. Further investigation is underway.
India Today
6 days ago
- India Today
Rajasthan man, 53, to be tried as juvenile for raping minor 37 years ago
Thirty-seven years after raping an 11-year-old girl in Rajasthan's Ajmer, a man, now nearly 53, was declared a juvenile by the Supreme Court. The court upheld the conviction but sent the case to a Juvenile Justice Board for sentencing under the Juvenile Justice incident occurred in November 1988 when the victim was raped while fetching water at her school. The Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih, reviewed school records showing the convict was born in 1972, making him 16 years and 2 months old at the time. advertisementThe court set aside the previous five-year jail sentence and directed that the punishment follow the Juvenile Justice Act of 2000 which limits penalties to three years in a juvenile home. As the convict is now 53, legal experts suggest he may face alternative penalties like community service. He has already served one year in jail during the court noted the issue of juvenility was not raised during the trial or High Court proceedings. It was brought up for the first time in the Supreme Court appeal. In January 2025, the court ordered Rajasthan authorities to verify the convict's age. A report from the Additional Sessions Judge in Ajmer confirmed his 1972 birth year based on school bench said that juvenility can be raised at any stage even after the case has been resolved. The conviction was upheld based on the victim's statement, supported by witness testimonies and medical evidence. The court stated that a credible victim statement alone can be sufficient for conviction in sexual offense cases and there will be no need further corroboration.- Ends
NDTV
6 days ago
- NDTV
'He Was Juvenile In 1988': Man, Now 53, Gets 3 Years' Punishment For Rape
New Delhi: Thirty-seven years after he raped an 11-year-old girl, a 53-year-old man has been referred to the Juvenile Justice Board after the Supreme Court found he was a juvenile at the time of the incident. The Board can send the man to a special home for a maximum of three years. A bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih was hearing the man's challenge to his conviction by the trial court and the Rajasthan High Court. The lower court had convicted him under Section 342 (wrongful confinement) and Section 376 (rape) and sentenced him to a three-year jail term. The high court upheld this. The counsel for the accused told the Supreme Court, for the first time in the case, that the accused was a juvenile at the time of the incident, which occurred in the Ajmer district on November 17, 1988. The court noted that the prosecution's case is not just based on the survivor's testimony, but "amply supported by the statements of other witnesses and corroborating medical evidence, all of which collectively establish the case of the prosecution". The court said the findings about the conviction "stand duly established beyond doubt," and the earlier judgments cannot be faulted. The court said the convict's claim that he was a juvenile at the time of the incident was found to be correct. While the Rajasthan government counsel objected to the convict seeking relief as a juvenile after so many years, the top court noted that earlier judgments have "categorically held that the plea of juvenility can be raised before any court and has to be recognised at any stage, even after disposal of the case". "Consequently, the sentence as imposed by the Trial Court and upheld by the High Court will have to be set aside, as the same cannot sustain," the court said. The bench referred the matter to the Juvenile Justice Board for appropriate orders. The board can send the 53-year-old man to a special home for a maximum of three years.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Time of India
37 yrs after rape, SC sends convict, now 53, to JJB
Supreme Court NEW DELHI: Thirty-seven years after he raped an 11-year-old girl in Ajmer district of Rajasthan, Supreme Court Wednesday upheld the conviction of the accused but declared him a juvenile. The court directed the man, now 53 years old, to appear before the Juvenile Justice Board, which can at most send him to a special home for up to three years. The man was convicted in 1993 by additional sessions judge, Kishangarh, and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of five years for rape under Section 376. The trial court's order was upheld by Rajasthan high court in July 2024. The convict did not raise the issue of juvenility, which was pointed out for the first time in SC when he filed an appeal against the conviction and sentence.
