9911796707
TMI Blog2019 (2) TMI 2124X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the three persons had intercepted the prosecutrix when she was passing by some fields along with her one-year-old brother and had taken her to a field nearby, whereupon Raju s/o Bhim and Raja @ Raj Kumar s/o Makhsi engaged in the gang-rape of the prosecutrix, while the Appellant stood outside the field. The prosecutrix was aged fifteen years at the time of the incident, which occurred on 14.09.2000. The three Accused were convicted for the offence punishable Under Section 376(2)(g) of the Indian Penal Code, and sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 500/-, and further two months' rigorous imprisonment in default of payment of fine. Aggrieved by the same, the three Accused appealed to the High Court. 3. The Appellant, inter alia, raised the defence before the High Court that he was aged less than 18 years at the time of commission of the offence, i.e. 14.09.2000, and hence was entitled to the benefit of the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (in short, "the 2000 Act"). The High Court, however, rejected such contention and affirmed the conviction of the three Accused, including the Appellant. 4. Aggrieved b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 000 Act and the Rules framed thereunder, and had submitted his report to this Court after conducting such inquiry in accordance with law, the report may be treated as having been made by this Court itself. 8. Heard the learned amicus curiae and advocate for the State, and perused the material on record. 9. It is by now well-settled, as was held in Hari Ram v. State of Rajasthan, (2009) 13 SCC 211, that in light of Sections 2(k), 2(l), 7A read with Section 20 of the 2000 Act as amended in 2006, a juvenile who had not completed eighteen years on the date of commission of the offence is entitled to the benefit of the 2000 Act (also see Mohan Mali v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (2010) 6 SCC 669; Daya Nand v. State of Haryana, (2011) 2 SCC 224; Dharambir v. State (NCT) of Delhi (supra); Jitendra Singh @ Babboo Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh, (2013) 11 SCC 193). It is equally well-settled that the claim of juvenility can be raised at any stage before any Court by an Accused, including this Court, even after the final disposal of a case, in terms of Section 7A of the 2000 Act (see Dharambir v. State (NCT) of Delhi, (supra), Abuzar Hossain v. State of West Bengal, (2012) 10 SCC 489; Jitend ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... edure to be followed for age determination: In every case concerning a child or juvenile in conflict with law, the age determination inquiry shall be conducted by the court or the Board or, as the case may be, the Committee by seeking evidence by obtaining - (a) (i) the matriculation or equivalent certificates, if available; and in the absence whereof; (ii) the date of birth certificate from the school (other than a play school) first attended; and in the absence whereof; (iii) the birth certificate given by a corporation or a municipal authority or a panchayat; (b) and only in the absence of either (i), (ii) or (iii) of Clause (a) above, the medical opinion will be sought from a duly constituted Medical Board, which will declare the age of the juvenile or child. In case exact assessment of the age cannot be done, the Court or the Board or, as the case may be, the Committee, for the reasons to be recorded by them, may, if considered necessary, give benefit to the child or juvenile by considering his/her age on lower side within the margin of one year, and while passing orders in such case shall, after taking into consideration such evidence as may be available, or the m ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h simply stated that the date of birth of the student named Raj Kumar was 12.07.1984. 15. The High Court evidently did not even frame its discussion in terms of whether the evidence brought on record was sufficient to conduct an inquiry under the 2000 Act and the 2007 Rules, let alone order and conduct such an inquiry. On the contrary, it simply recorded that the evidence did not go to show that the Appellant was a juvenile at the time of the commission of the offence, and proceeded to affirm the conviction of the Appellant on merits. 16. Therefore, it is evident that the only inquiry as stipulated under the 2000 Act and the 2007 Rules was conducted by the Registrar (Judicial) upon the directions of this Court, after the Court was satisfied upon going through the school certificates adduced by the Appellant that the certificates in question prima facie entitled him to claim the conduct of such an inquiry. In such a situation, the question regarding whether precedence may be given to the inquiry of a Registrar (Judicial) of this Court over the opinion of the High Court regarding the age of an Accused can be restated as whether such inquiry conducted by the Registrar (Judicial) upo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ndary School (Boys), Sohna, verifying that the student named Raj Kumar, son of Rajendar Singh, used to study at the school, and that the school records reflected his date of birth as 12.07.1984 and the name of his mother as Smt. Sarla Devi. 19. The learned Registrar also duly corroborated the contents of these certificates by referring to other school records and also examined witnesses. With respect to the Dayanand Arya Middle School, Sohna, the learned Registrar examined Mr. Suresh Chand, Teacher, appearing under the directions of the School Headmaster, who confirmed that the Transfer Certificate dated 24.03.2012 was bona fide and issued under the signature of the then Principal. The Registrar also verified the certificate by comparing it with the office copy of the same in the School Leaving Certificate Register produced before him. The original Admission and Withdrawal Register of the school was also examined, which also recorded the Appellant's date of birth as 12.07.1984, and stated that he was admitted in the school on 23.07.1992 and withdrew on 31.03.1996 after passing Class V. 20. With respect to the Government Senior Secondary School (Boys), Sohna, the learned Regis ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... fficient to satisfy the requirement of Clause (a)(ii) of Rule 12(3). Of course, it goes without saying that the certificate issued by the Government Senior Secondary School (Boys), Sohna and the accompanying school records serve to corroborate the veracity of the records furnished by the former school. It would not be out of place to highlight here that the findings in the inquiry report have also not been controverted by the State. 23. We are also conscious of the limitation envisaged Under Section 7A of the 2000 Act that the evidence adduced with respect to the age of the Accused cannot be in the form of mere affidavits. Due to this reason, the reliance of the learned Registrar upon affidavits to conclude that the name used in the certificates placed on record (i.e. Raj Kumar) is the full name of the Appellant and the name Raju is merely an alias is not tenable in our view. However, we find that there is sufficient evidence on record in the form of the appearance of the name of the father of the Appellant on the certificate dated 24.03.2012 issued by the Dayanand Arya Middle School, Sohna, to indicate that the name Raj Kumar appearing on such certificate was the full name of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
