The Juvenile Justice Act applies to all matters covered by it inter alia concerning children in conflict with law, irrespective of any provision in any other Act.

JUDGMENT

I. P. Mukerji, J. - This judgment is a work of collaboration between my brother Mr. Justice Biswaroop Chowdhury and myself.

2. These applications under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code were heard out, dispensing with all formalities. As common questions of fact  and law are concerned they are disposed of by this composite judgment and order.

3. The preamble to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (the 2000 Act) made it explicit that it was being enacted to  consolidate and amend the law relating to juveniles in conflict with law. It was repealed and replaced by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (the 2015 Act) on 15th January, 2016.

4. Both the 2000 and the 2015 Acts have a non-obstantive clause. Section 1(4) in each clarifies that irrespective of any provision in any other Act, the Act will apply to all matters covered by it inter alia concerning children in conflict with law.

5. In the Act of 2000, 'juvenile' or 'child' is defined in Section 2(k) and 'juvenile in conflict with law' is defined in Section 2(l) as follows:-

'2. (k) 'juvenile' or 'child' means a person who has not completed eighteenth year of age.

(l) 'juvenile in conflict with law' means a juvenile who is alleged to have committed an offence and has not completed eighteenth year of age as on the date of commission of such offence.'

6. There is no change in the definition of 'juvenile' in Section 2(35) of the 2015 Act.

7. However, in the 2015 Act, 'child' and 'juvenile' are defined separately as follows:-

'2. (12) 'child' means a person who has not completed eighteen years of age.'

2. (35) 'Juvenile' means a child below the age of eighteen years.'

'Child in conflict with law' is defined in Section 2(13) of the 2015 Act as

follows:-

'2. (13) 'child in conflict with law' means a child who is alleged or found to have committed an offence and who has not completed eighteen years of age on the date of commission of such offence.'

8. The definition of 'juvenile' or 'child' in Section 2(k) of the 2000 Act and of 'child' in Section 2(12) of the 2015 Act and 'juvenile in conflict with law' in Section 2(l) of the 2000 Act and Section 2(13) of the 2015 Act are identical.

9. A child would be in conflict with law if he is alleged to have committed an offence below the age of 18 years on the date of commission of such offence.

10. Our constitutional principle enumerated in Article 20(1) is that a person can be charged, tried and convicted for an alleged offence on the date of  its commission and not for an act which was not an offence on such date but recognized as an offence at a later point of time by amendment of a statute or enactment of a new statute.

11. Say for example, an offence is committed by A when he is 17 years and 11 months old. The offence is discovered by the police, enquired into and tried after A has completed 18 years of age. Although at the time of discovery of the offence A has completed 18 years of age, he would be tried under the Act in force on the date of commission of the offence.

12. Section 9(2) of the 2015 Act recognizes this principle. When a person claims before a court that he was a child on the date of commission of the offence, the court would make an enquiry and determine the age of the person on the date of the alleged commission of the offence. The proviso to the sub-section makes it abundantly clear that this claim can be made and adjudicated upon at any stage of the proceedings.

13. Parliament has also provided in Sections 5 & 6 of the 2015 Act that once a procedure under the 2015 Act has begun, while the accused was a juvenile, the same procedure would apply, if later he ceased to be so. A most extraordinary situation has arisen in this case.

14. It is undisputed that the petitioner was a juvenile on the date the alleged offences described in detail in the charge sheets were committed. Nonetheless in them there are references to several cases started by the police stations after t