NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over the rising instances of crimes involving juvenile accused, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that one of the key accused in the gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old nomadic girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, Shubam Sangra, will be tried as an adult.
The SC gave credence to the medical board’s report which estimated the age of Sangra as above 19 years at the time of the commission of the crime and set aside the order passed by the Kathua chief judicial magistrate and the high court. It also chastised the CJM and the HC over their “casual and cavalier” approach while deciding the accused was a juvenile.
A bench of judges Ajay Rastogi and J B Pardiwala said though there was a clear case in favour of the accused person’s juvenility on the basis of his birth certificate and school records, he cannot take shelter under such documents when a heinous crime has been committed.
The bench said while the goal of reformation is ideal, the leniency with which the juveniles are dealt with in the name of reformation may be making them more emboldened in indulging in such heinous crimes. “The manner in which brutal and heinous crimes have been committed over a period of time by the juveniles and still continue to be committed, makes us wonder whether the Act, 2015 (Juvenile law) has subserved its objective,” the top court said.