Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 — Sections 10, 2(k) & 20

August 23rd, 2013

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 — Sections 10, 2(k) & 20 — Arrest of juvenile in conflict with law — Procedures laid down in the Code, Requirement to follow — Held, procedures laid down in the Code, in as much as they are for the benefit of a juvenile or a child, apply with full rigour to an apprehension made of a juvenile in conflict with law — If these procedures are followed, the probability of a juvenile, on apprehension, being shown as an adult and sent to judicial custody in a jail, will be considerably minimized — If these procedures are followed, as they should be, along with the requirement of a Magistrate to examine the juvenility or otherwise of an accused person brought before him, subjecting a juvenile in conflict with law to a trial by a regular Court may become a thing of the past — Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 — Sections 50 & 54 — Procedure under — Requirement to be followed.

(Para 67, 69 & 70)

HELD: Keeping in mind our domestic law and our international obligations, it is directed that the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code relating to arrest and the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 being the law of the land, should be scrupulously followed by the concerned authorities in respect of juveniles in conflict with law.

(Para 69)

It is also directed that whenever an accused, who physically appears to be a juvenile, is produced before a Magistrate, he or she should form a prima facie opinion on the juvenility of the accused and record it. If any doubt persists, the Magistrate should conduct an age inquiry as required by Section 7A of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 to determine the juvenility or otherwise of the accused person. In this regard, it is better to err on the side of caution in the first instance rather than have the entire proceedings reopened or vitiated at a subsequent stage or a guilty person go unpunished only because he or she is found to be a juvenile on the date of occurrence of the incident.

(Para 70)

Jitendra Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh[Bench Strength 2], Criminal Appeal No. 763/2003(10/07/2013), 2013(9) SCALE 18: 2013(5) Supreme 232 [T.S. Thakur, J.: Madan B. Lokur, J.]

Entry Filed under: Legal Updates