NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that a plea of juvenility can be filed even after the judgment, order of conviction, and sentence granted against a person have attained finality.
A two-judge bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kostiswar Singh acquitted the accused in a murder case who had filed a plea for juvenility after the order of conviction and sentence was passed against him.
The accused No. 1 had preferred and filed a miscellaneous application before the SC claiming the plea of juvenility even after the court had upheld his conviction. The SC allowed his plea and granted him relief.
On the top court’s direction, the Sessions Court carried out a detailed examination under Section 94 of the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection) Act, 2015, to determine the accused’s age at the time of the commission of an offence. The examination recorded that the accused was below 18 years of age as on the date of the incident.
“Bearing in mind the aforesaid judgments and the report submitted by the learned Sessions Judge, pursuant to the directions of this Court, we find that the date of birth of the applicant has been proved to be 04.10.1984. Consequently, the claim of juvenility made by the applicant, who was arrayed as accused no.3 is upheld and the conviction as recorded against him by this court is set-aside and he stands acquitted,” the top court said.