Salauddin alias Mannu (in Jail) vs State of U.P.

K.N. Sinha, J.—Heard learned Counsel for the revisionist and the learned A.G.A.

The present revision has been filed against the order dated 21.2.2003 passed by Additional Sessions Judge, Court No. 2, Etawah, rejecting the bail application of the applicant not finding him to be juvenile.

The revisionist Salauddin alias Mannu was facing trial in Session Trial No. 93 of 2002 in Case Crime No. 827 of 2001 u/s 302, I.P.C., Police Station Kotwali, District Etawah.

The applicant raised the plea of juvenile and in support of the same, he filed School Leaving Certificate and he was also got medically examined by the Chief Medical Officer, Etawah. As per report of the Chief Medical Officer, Etawah, the age of the applicant came to be above 17 years and below the age of 18 years. It appears that the said report was not relied upon by the Court and consequently, it was directed that the applicant shall appear before the Medical Board. As per the impugned order, the Medical Board also opined that the age of the revisionist applicant was between 17 and 18 years. The plea of juvenile was refused without any proper ground. When the report of the Chief Medical Officer and the report of the Medical Board, both are consistent and the age is coming between 17 and 18 years, the Court has not given any reason for not holding the applicant to be juvenile.

The Apex Court in the case of Rajinder Chandra v. State of Chhattisgarh and Anr. 2002 (1) ACR 639 (SC): 2002 (1) JIC 609, has held as follows:

While dealing with the question of determination of the age of the accused for the purpose of finding out whether he is a juvenile or not, a hyper-technical approach should not be adopted while appreciating the evidence adduced on behalf of the accused in support of the plea that he was a juvenile and if two views may be possible on the said evidence, the Court should lean in favour of holding the accused to be a juvenile in borderline cases.

The law laid down by the Apex Court in the above case is fully applicable on the facts of the present case. Thus it is very clear from the evidence on record that the applicant is a juvenile.

In the case of a juvenile, the provisions of Section 12 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, applies in which the bail has to be granted notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure or any law for the time being in force.

Considering this, the revision is allowed, the order dated 21.2.2003 is set aside. The applicant Salauddin alias Mannu is admitted to bail on his guardians furnishing a personal bond and two sureties each in the like amount to the satisfaction of Court concerned.