The main legal point established in the judgment is that bail should be granted to a juvenile unless specific factors indicating the possibility of contact with known criminals, exposure to moral or psychological danger, or the defeat of ends of justice are prima facie made out, as mandated by Section 12 of the Act.

S. Ravindra Bhat, J.

1. This revision is directed against an order of the Additional Sessions Judge dated 12.02.07 by which he confirmed the order of the Juvenile Justice Board, declining bail. The petitioner along with co-accused was charged with committing offences under Sections 302/377/34 IPC. The incident in this case occurred on 21/22.07.2006.

2. The relevant part of the order of the Juvenile Justice Board reads as follows:

SIR of delinquent received which is based on personal interview and SIR from local DPO is awaited. SIR of delinquent shows that his father is a Government servant in UP while his mother is a house wife. He has two elder sisters both of whom are married while his younger brother is studying. Juvenile is having companion influence and the probation officer has observed that Juvenile is known his co-accused Shehzad since last some years and both belonged to Nagina. They both were residing in same locality and had intimacy. They habitually wandered in nearby jungles and that delinquency arose as a consequence of the intimacy. The delinquent in the present case committed murder of one person along with his co-accused which consequent of unnatural sexual behavior. The delinquent was residing at Delhi to pursue his studies without any supervision and control of any of his family members, who were residing at Bijnore (UP). The reason for which the offence was committed has also the manner in which it was committed with the adult accused (co) make us believe that release of delinquent at this stage would defeat the ends of justice and would also be against the moral physical and psychological well being of the juvenile who appears to be in need of counselling for behavioral modification.

Hence, application for bail filed on behalf of the delinquent is rejected.

3. The applicant was detained on 29.07.2006. He has been in custody ever since then. By order dated 20th March, 2007, the trial Court records were requisitioned. They reveal that a Social Investigation Report (SIR) dated 22.11.2006 was on the record. The report states that the petitioner is intelligent and quite active, he had cleared the UP Board examination, at the Standard XII level and paid sufficient interest in studies. He was admitted to the Draftsman course from the Apex Care Centre, New Delhi. The report noted that the petitioners father maintains discipline at house, and that he is emotionally attached to family members. The family has good social and economic condition; his father is an Engineer in the

U.P. Jal Nigam. The report was of the opinion that the petitioner developed intimacy with the co-accused, who lived in the same locality. It recommended that he is young and has sufficient interest in studies; his parents and relatives are anxious about his future.

4. The learned Counsel for the State in this present case, opposed the grant of bail on the ground that the alleged act said to have been committed by the juvenile along with the co-accused was one of great moral degradation and itself would demonstrate the perversity of the mind of the juvenile.

.5. The definition of a delinquent juvenile means a juvenile who has been found to have committed an offence. Section 12 of the Act deals with right of bail to the juvenile. Sub-Section (1) provides that, when any person accused of a bailable or non-bailable offence, and apparently juvenile, is arrested or detained and is brought before a Board, he shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 or in any other law for the time being in force, be released on bail with or without surety but he shall not be so released if there appear reasonable grounds for believing that such release is likely to bring him into association with any known criminal or expose him to moral, physical or psychological danger or that his release would defeat the ends of justice. Subsection (3) provides that when such person is not released on bail under Subsection (1) by th