Harish Chandra vs State of Uttar Pradesh

G.D. Dube, J.—This bail application has been moved in connection with a crime registered against the applicant Under Sections 363, 366 and 376 of IPC, P. S. Chibramau, district Farrukhabad.

The learned Sessions Judge, Farrukhabad had written in the opening sentence of his order that aimittedly the applicant is below 16 years of age. He has rejected the application for bail of the applicant on technical ground that the case against applicant was triable by a Juvenile Court, the application for bail should be moved before the said court.

In the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 (hereinafter referred to as Act) a juvenile has to be dealt with according to the provisions of the Act. Sub-section (h) of Section 2 of the Act defines, ''juvenile'' as under:

Juvenile" means a boy who has not attained the age of sixteen years or a girl who has not attained the age of eighteen years.

Section 18 and 19 of the Act read as under:

Bail and custody of juveniles.-(1) when any person accused of a bailable or non-bailable offence and apparently a juvenile is arrested or detained or appears or is brought before a juvenile court, such person shall, notwith-standing anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), or in any other law for the time being in force, be released on bail with or without surety but he shall not be so released if there appear reasonable grounds for believing that the release is likely to bring him into association with any known criminal or expose him to moral danger or that his release would defeat the ends of justice.

(2) when such person having been arrested is not released on bail under Sub-section (1) by the officer-in-charge of the police station, such officer shall cause him to be kept in an observation home or a place of safety in the prescribed manner (but not in a police station or jail) until he can be brought before a Juvenile Court.

(3) when such person is not released on bail Under Sub-section (1) by the Juvenile Court it shall, instead of committing him to prison, make an order sending him to an observation home or a place of safety for such period during the pendency of the inquiry regarding him as may be specified in the order.

(Emphasis added)

Information to parent or guardian or probation officer.--where a juvenile is arrested, the officer-in-charge of the police station to which the juvenile is broght shall, as soon as may be after the arrest, inform--

(a) the parent or guardian of the juvenile, if he can be found, of such arrest and direct him to be present at the Juvenile Court before, which the juvenile will appear ; and

(b) the probation officer or such arrest in order to enable him to obtain information regarding the antecedents and family history of the juvenile and other material circumstances likely to be of assistance to the Juvenile Court for making the inquiry.

Section 18 of the Act denies bails to Juveniles under three conditions only, namely (1) release is likely to bring him into association with any known criminal (2) or expose him to any moral danger or (3) the release would defeat the ends of justice.

Sub-Section 2 of Section 18 casts a duty upon the Juvenile Courts and the officer-in-charge of the police station where juvenile is brought to release the juvenile on bail. Section 19 makes it obligatory upon the officer- ni-charge of the police station where a juvenile is brought to inform the parent or guardian of the juvenile if he can be found and also the probation officer of the district.

Both Sections 18 and 19 use the word ''shall'' in "giving guidlines to the juvenile courts and the officer-in-charge of the police station in matters of bail or informasion to the parents or guardian of juvenile. Sub-section (2) of Section 18 gives a specific direction that Juvenile shall not be detained in a prison or the police Station. The Act makes it obligatory upon the police official arresting a delinquent juvenile to be detained in an observation home or a place of safety in the prescribed manner but not in a police station or jail. Contrary to the specific mandate of Section 18 of the Act the applicant has been detained in a jail. It is for the State Government to look into the matter as to why contrary to the aforesaid provision the applicant has been detained in a jail.

Sections 39 and 59 of the Act make the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure applicable in respect of matter dealt in the act subject to the condition and procedure in the Act. u/s 59 Chapter 33 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as far as they are applicable, are applied to bond taken in the Act. Chapter XXXIII contains provisions relating to bail and bonds. On a reading of the scheme of the Act and Section 59, it is apparent that the Sessions Judge ought to have dealt with the matter of bail relating to the applicant in exercise of his jurisdiction u/s 439 of the code. Keeping in view the facts narrated in the first information report lodged against the applicant there was no danger of the applicant coming into the contact with a known criminal or exposing him to moral danger. There was nothing on record to show that it was expedient in the interest of justice to keep him in an observation home or at any place of safety. Thus the learned Sessions Judge had erred in rejecting the bail application of the applicaat on a technical ground.

The application is allowed. The applicant Harish Chancer involved in Crime No. 311 of 1991, Under Sections 363, 366 and 376, IPC, P. S. Chhib- ramau, district Farrukhabad be released on bail on furnishing two sureties for . Rs. 3,000/- (Rupees Three Thousand) and on execution a bond of similar amount by either of the parents of the applicant to the satisfaction of the Magistrate, Juvenile Court concerned.