Ashwani Kumar Saxena Vs. State of M.P.
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Head Note
Indian Penal Code,1860 - Section 302 , Section 34 , The Arms Act,1959 - Section 27 , Juvenile Justice (Care And Protection of Children) Act, 2000 - Section 7
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2007 - Rule 12 - Claim of Juvenility - Age determination inquiry - Scope of Enquiry - For future guidance and application by the Courts, Boards and the Committees functioning under the J.J. Act and Rules - Admission register in the school in which the candidate first attended is a relevant piece of evidence of the date of birth. The reasoning that the parents could have entered a wrong date of birth in the admission register hence not a correct date of birth is equal to thinking that parents would do so in anticipation that child would commit a crime in future and, in that situation, they could successfully raise a claim of juvenility - Held - The appellant has successfully established his juvenility on the date of occurrence of the crime i.e. 19.10.2023 on which date he was aged only 17 years 11 months 25 days. The appellant has already faced the criminal trial in sessions case No. 28 of 2009 and the Court found him guilty along with two others under section 302 IPC and has been awarded life imprisonment which is pending in appeal, before the Hon'ble Court at Jabalpur as Crime Appeal No. 1134 of 2009. We notice that the accused is also involved in few other criminal cases as well - This case, we are inclined to set aside the sentence awarded in sessions case No. 28/2009 by Sessions Court and direct the High Court to place the records before J.J. Board for awarding appropriate sentence in accordance with the provisions of Act, 2000, and if the appellant has already undergone the maximum sentence of three years as prescribed in the Act, needless to say he has to be let free, provided he is not in custody in any other criminal case. We are informed that the appellant is involved in few other criminal cases as well, those cases will proceed in accordance with law.
Topic(s)-Claim of Juvenility , Age Determination Inquiry , Scope of Enquiry