Supreme Court: The Bench comprising of Pinaki Chandra Ghose and R.K. Agarawal, JJ reaffirmed that once the declaration of juvenility on the date of the commission of offence is established before Court of competent jurisdiction, then the accused must get the benefit under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000.
In present case which was filed to release the applicant from the prison on the ground that the applicant who was sentenced for life imprisonment for commission of offence under Section 302 of IPC, has already served the sentence for more than 10 yrs and still is in jail. Although, the Juvenile Justice Board had declared through its order that the applicant on the date of incident was below 18 years. Further, declared him as a juvenile offender. The plea before the court was that the applicant should be given exemption under the provisions of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000.
The Court relying on its previous decisions said that the maximum period for which a juvenile could be kept in a special home is for three years prescribed under Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, and therefore, allowing the appeal and setting aside the impugned judgment and order passed by the Trial Court and the High Court, the applicant was directed to be released forthwith, getting the benefit of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 since he was a juvenile on the date of commission of offence. Ram Narain v. State of U.P.,2015 SCC OnLine SC 696, decided on 7-8-2015