Maha Singh vs State Of Madhya Pradesh And Ors

Conviction,Sentence

Under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code,Rigorous Imprisonment for 7 years

persons who were below the age of 18 years on the date of commission of the offence even prior to 1-4-2001, would be treated as juveniles, even if",

the claim of juvenility was raised after they had attained the age of 18 years on or before the date of commencement of the Act and were undergoing,

sentence upon being convicted.,

* * *,

Accordingly, a juvenile who had not completed eighteen years on the date of commission of the offence was also entitled to the benefits of the",

Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, as if the provisions of Section 2(k) had always been in existence even during the operation of the 1986 Act.""",

It has been further observed in paragraphs 11 and 12 as under:,

The question then is whether the High Court could have at all recorded a conviction against the appellant who as seen above was a juvenile on",

the date of the commission of the offence. The answer to that question, in our opinion, lies in Section 20 of the 2000 Act which reads as under:",

Special provision in respect of pending cases.-Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, all proceedings in respect of a juvenile pending in",

any court in any area on the date on which this Act comes into force in that area, shall be continued in that court as if this Act had not been passed",

and if the court finds that the juvenile has committed an offence, it shall record such finding and instead of passing any sentence in respect of the",

juvenile, forward the juvenile to the Board which shall pass orders in respect of that juvenile in accordance with the provisions of this Act as if it had",

been satisfied on inquiry under this Act that a juvenile has committed the offence:,

Provided that the Board may, for any adequate and special reason to be mentioned in the order, review the case and pass appropriate order in the",

interest of such juvenile.,

Explanation.-In all pending cases including trial, revision, appeal or any other criminal proceedings in respect of a juvenile in conflict with law, in any",

court, the determination of juvenility of such a juvenile shall be in terms of clause (l) of Section 2, even if the juvenile ceases to be so on or before the",

date of commencement of this Act and the provisions of this Act shall apply as if the said provisions had been in force, for all purposes and at all",

material times when the alleged offence was committed"".",

The above makes it manifest that proceedings pending against a juvenile in any court as on the date the 2000 Act came into force had to continue,

as if the 2000 Act had not been enacted. More importantly Section 20 obliges the court concerned to record a finding whether the juvenile has,

committed any offence. If the court finds the juvenile guilty, it is required under the above provision to forward the juvenile to the Board which would",

then pass an order in accordance with the provisions of the Act as if it had been satisfied on enquiry under the Act that the juvenile had committed an,

offence.""",

Again, in Ashok Kumar case (supra), relying on Hari Ram case (supra), it has been further observed by the Supreme Court thus:",

In view of the contentions of both the learned Senior Counsel for the parties and foregoing reasons, we have to hold that the appellant is entitled",

for the benefit of the juvenility. In view of the aforesaid pronouncement of law made by this Court in Hari Ram v. State of Rajasthan, (2009) 13 SCC",

211 of which relevant portion is extracted above, we are required to set aside the impugned judgment of conviction and sentence as we do so.""",

In view of the contentions of Learned Counsel appearing for the parties and for the foregoing reasons, I hold that the Appellant is entitled to get",

benefit of juvenility. Accordingly, I allow the instant appeal and remit the matter to the Juvenile Justice Board, District Bilaspur to exercise its power",

under Sections 15 and 18 of the Act of 2015 for conducting an inquiry and dispose of the matter within a period of 6 weeks from the date of receipt of,

this judgment. While disposing of the matter, the Board shall take into consideration the age of the Appellant and the facts that he has already",

undergone sentence of about 1½ years, he and the prosecutrix have performed marriage with each other and out of their wedlock they have 3",

children. The Board shall exercise its power within the stipulated period and shall pass an appropriate order after conducting an inquiry as mentioned,

above.,

Record of the Court below (5 th Additional Sessions Judge, Bilaspur) be sent to the Juvenile Justice Board, District Bilaspur along with a copy of",

this judgment forthwith for information and necessary compliance. After disposal of the matter, the Board shall send a copy of its order to this Court",

and to the Court of 5 th Additional Sessions Judge, Bilaspur. After the disposal, the Board shall also send back the record to the Court of 5 th",

Additional Sessions Judge, Bilaspur.",