SC releases woman in murder case on ground of juvenility [Read Judgment]

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has allowed an appeal by a woman against conviction with life term imprisonment in a murder case as she was declared a juvenile, below 18 years of age, at the time of offence.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan noted the woman has undergone more than eight years of imprisonment.

"As the appellant has undergone incarceration for a period of more than eight years, no purpose will be served by sending the appellant before the Juvenile Justice Board," the bench said.

The court set aside Chhattisgarh High Court's order as well as the trial court's judgment which convicted the woman of offences under Sections 302, 201 and 34 of the IPC.

In her appeal, the woman claimed she was juvenile at the offence in year 2000.

Acting upon her interlocutory application, the bench had on September 13, 2023, directed the Sessions Court to hold an enquiry into the issue of juvenility.

The court received a report stating that her date of birth of the appellant is September 1, 1982 and, therefore, on June 15, 2000, the date of the occurrence of the offence, the age of the appellant was 17 years, 09 months and 14 days.

"A perusal of the report shows that apart from other documents, reliance has been placed on the entries in the school leaving register of the school last attended by the appellant. This document is of the year 1988. The name of the appellant appears at serial no 369 and her date of birth shown therein is 1st September, 1982. Even the primary certificate examination result-sheet of 1995 shows the same date of birth," the bench said.

The bench held on the date of occurrence of the offence, the appellant was a juvenile.

"The maximum action which could have been taken against the appellant was of sending her to a special home. In the case of a girl of sixteen years of age, she could have been sent to a special home for a period of not less than three years. As per Section 22(1) of the 1986 JJ Act, there was a prohibition on sentencing a juvenile to undergo imprisonment. There is a similar provision under Section 16 of the 2000 JJ Act," the bench said.

[Read Judgment]