JUDGMENT

Dr. Arijit Pasayat, J. —

1. Leave granted.

2. Challenge in this appeal is to the judgment of a Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, Indore Bench. Stand of the present appellant was that he was juvenile when the occurrence took place. His date of birth was 12.11.1980. Various accused persons faced trial for offence punishable under Sections 147, 148, 302 read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short the ‘IPC’). Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that since the accused was juvenile, his trial could not have been held alongwith others. Learned counsel for the respondent-State on the other hand submitted that the question whether the appellant was a juvenile was never raised earlier.

3. It is to be noted that prior to the date of occurrence the Madhya Pradesh Children Act, 1928 (in short the ‘Children Act’) was in force. The Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 (in short ‘1986 Act’) was in operation on the date of occurrence. Subsequently, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as ‘2000 Act’) has been enacted. Under section 2(h) of the 1986 Act, a juvenile is one who is below the age of 16 years. Un