Meghalaya: The Meghalaya High Court has passed a significant order suspending the conviction and sentence of a convicted appellant and directing the Trial Court to first determine his age, after accepting a plea of juvenility raised at the appellate stage.
The Division Bench of Justice W. Diengdoh and Justice B. Bhattacharjee granted relief to Shri Sheldar Syiemlieh, who was convicted under the POCSO Act and sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of ₹20,000. Syiemlieh sought reconsideration of his conviction on the ground that he was a juvenile at the time of the alleged offence.
The Court observed that even at the appellate stage, there is no bar to raising the plea of juvenility. It noted: “We are prima facie satisfied that the issue of juvenility, as far as the appellant is concerned, has substance.”
The Court took note of the arguments by the learned Legal Aid Counsel, who submitted that the appellant had produced vital documents, including a Birth Certificate and Baptismal Certificate, both indicating his date of birth as 22.01.1998. Considering he was arrested at the age of 19 and the incident allegedly occurred three years prior, the Court noted he would have been approximately 16 years old at the time of the offence.
Responding to the State’s objection that the documents were produced as an afterthought, the Court remarked: “We have no doubt or suspicion regarding the conduct of the appellant and would rather leave it to the court of competent jurisdiction to determine his age.”
The Court relied on Supreme Court precedents in Sanjeev Kumar Gupta v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Ashwani Kumar Saxena v. State of Madhya Pradesh, which underscore the requirement for proper age determination when juvenility is claimed.
In conclusion, the High Court suspended the operation of the impugned judgment and sentence until the Trial Court determines the appellant’s age, directing that the issue of juvenility be decided first before further proceedings.
Case Title: Shri Sheldar Syiemlieh v. State of Meghalaya
