Bombay High Court quashes 20-year jail term of juvenile in gangrape case

(Express Photo by Pradeep Kocharekar)

The Bombay High Court on Friday quashed and set aside the conviction order of a trial court imposing 20 years of imprisonment on a juvenile accused in a gangrape case. The HC ordered his immediate release and directed the Juvenile Justice Board to pass appropriate orders under provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act.

On August 9, 2016, a sessions court had convicted three accused for the gangrape of a minor mentally challenged girl. The three accused had threatened the girl against telling her mother about the incident that took place on 2013. It was only months later, when the girl was found to be pregnant, that she told her mother what had happened. The mother then got a case registered against the three accused, who were later convicted.

One of the three challenged his conviction before the high court. He sent a letter from the jail to the high court, claiming that his date of birth was April 25, 1995, and that on the date the offence was committed, he was below 18 years of age. He contended that he was, therefore, entitled to benefit from the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.

Justice A M Badar said on Friday, “…as the appellant/accused is found to be a juvenile in conflict with law on the date of commission of the offence, he needs to be forwarded to the Juvenile Justice Board for passing appropriate orders, and the sentence, if any, passed by the learned trial court in the matter, shall be deemed to have no effect.”

Earlier, the high court had directed the sessions court judge to make an enquiry and submit a report on the youth’s age. The report revealed that the accused was 16 years 10 months and 18 days old when the offence was committed. “It is, thus, clear that appellant/accused… is a juvenile in conflict with law, he being 16 years 10 months and 18 days old as on 15th March 2013, i.e. the date of commission of crime,” Justice Badar observed.

The juvenile’s lawyer, Shantanu Phanse, relied upon a Supreme Court judgment passed in Hari Ram vs State of Rajasthan, in which it was held that claim of juvenility can be raised before any court at any stage and such a claim is required to be determined as per law. Phanse also told the HC that the accused did not raise the ground that he was a juvenile at the trial stage.

Justice Badar held, “He (the juvenile) has already undergone sentence for about five years. Therefore, the sentence imposed upon him… needs to be set aside and the record needs to be placed before the Juvenile Justice Board for passing appropriate orders under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.”

“Sentence awarded by the learned trial court on appellant… is quashed and set aside. He be released from the prison forthwith if not required in any other case…”