IMPORTANT POINT
The court ruled that the potential for recidivism and public safety concerns outweigh the petitioner's progress, denying release under the Juvenile Justice Act.

ORDER :

Per Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice

1. The petitioner has prayed for the following relief(s):

“(a) That, this Hon'ble Court be pleased to call for the Progress Reports, Follow-up Reports and other Reports submitted by the Probation Officer and/ or any other functionary of the juvenile justice system before the Sessions (POCSO) Court, Kondagaon, under section 19(4) of the JJ Act 2015.

(b) That, this Hon'ble Court be pleased to allow this petition and to quash and set aside the order dated 03-08-2022 passed by the Sessions (POCSO) Court, Kondagaon, as being ultra vires Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015.

(c) For costs of and incidental to this Petition;

(d) for such further and other orders and reliefs that the facts and circumstances of the case may require.”

2. The facts, as projected by the petitioner are that the petitioner was arrested under Crime No. 74/2017 dated 19.06.2017 registered by respondent police station along with five adult co-accused under section 376(D) of the Indian Penal Code and section 4, 6 and 17 of the POCSO Act. The date of birth of the petitioner is 04.08.1999 and as such, the petitioner was below 18years of age on the date of commission, hence, he was dealt under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 (for short, the Act of 2015) but being above 16 years of age on the date of offence and having been alleged to have committed a heinous offence, a preliminary assessment was conducted under section 15(1) of the Act of 2015, and in August - September 2017, the Juvenile Justice Board, Narayanpur, transferred the petitioner's trial to the Children's Court [Sessions (POCSO) Court] under Section 18(3) of the Act of 2015. The petitioner was tried under section 19(1)(i) of the Act of 2015 as an adult by the Sessions (POCSO) Court, Kondagaon, along with the adult co-accused (Sessions Case No. 16 of 2017). The petitioner alongwith other adult co-accused were convicted by judgment dated 20.12.2019. On the date of conviction, the petitioner was 19 years of age and was imposed sentence of imprisonment for 20 years under section 376 (D) of the Indian Penal Code read with Section 17 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 ('for short, the POCSO Act') with fine of Rs. 1 Lac and in default thereof, to undergo further imprisonment for one year. An Individual Care Plan (for short, the ICP) prepared by the Children's Court [Sessions (POCSO) Court) was attached to the said judgment dated 20.12.2019 as per section 19(2) of the Act of 2015, and directions regarding follow-up were included therein. The said ICP denotes that the petitioner while in the place of safety should be provided with vocational training and counselling, and should be engaged with institutional sports (outdoor/indoor) and institutional creative activities / competitions. The said ICP also includes a detailed daily routine to be adhered to during the petitioner's stay in the place of safety. Upon conviction, the petitioner was placed in the place of safety at Jagdalpur, vide warrant dated 20-12-2019. The warrant provides that the petitioner should be detained at the place of safety till completion of 21 years of age, and thereafter the petitioner's case should be brought before the Sessions (POCSO) Court for inquiry under Section 20 of the Act of 2015. The warrant further provided that every year progress reports of the petitioner should be prepared and submitted to the Sessions (POCSO) Court. Accordingly, progress report dated 20.03.2021 was prepared by the Probation Officer of the place of safety and submitted to the Children's Court [Sessions (POCSO) Court]. The said progress report indicates that the petitioner has received informal education, takes part in institutional activities and practices yoga on a daily basis. The said report also indicates that the petitioner is not addicted to drugs and does not indica