Point of Law: Procedure to be followed when claim of juvenility is raised before any court- Murder - Conviction set aside - If it is found that a person was a juvenile on the date of commission of a crime, sentence, if any, passed by any Court shall be deemed to have no effect.

JUDGMENT :

Ziyad Rahman A.A., J.

This appeal is filed by the 3rd accused in S.C.No.163 of 2010 on the file of the Additional Sessions Judge-V, Thiruvananthapuram. He stands convicted for the offences punishable under Sections 302, 307 and 324 r/w. Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code along with two other persons.

2. The prosecution case is that the appellant along with two others, committed the murder of one Sajeev, the brother of PW1, in furtherance of their common intention, by delivering a blow on his head with a wooden stick by the 1st accused. The 2nd accused had also inflicted blow on the body of the deceased. The overt act alleged against the appellant/3rd accused is that, seeing the assault on the said Sajeev, his father intervened and he was attacked by the appellant with a wooden stick. As all the accused have committed acts in furtherance of their common intention, all of them were arraigned as accused for the offences mentioned above.

3. The accused stood trial and as per the judgment impugned in this case, the Sessions Court found all the accused guilty and passed the sentence mentioned above. This appeal is filed in the above circumstances at the instance of the 3rd accused.

4. Heard Sri J.R.Prem Navaz learned Counsel for the appellant and Sri S.U.Nazer, learned Public Prosecutor

5. One of the main grounds raised in this appeal is that, he was a juvenile at the time of commission of offence and the entire proceedings are vitiated, as the Sessions Court lacked jurisdiction to try the case against him. Learned Counsel for the appellant points out that, even though the claim of juvenility was raised before the Sessions Court, it was not considered and instead, the Sessions Court proceeded to complete the trial and it ended up in conviction, without any jurisdiction.

6. When this appeal came up for admission on 26.03.2021, we passed an order directing the Dy.S.P., D.C.R.B, Thiruvananthapuram Rural, to conduct an inquiry as to the date of birth of the appellant and to file a report before this Court. In compliance of the said order, a report is placed on record wherein the Dy.S.P., D.C.R.B, Thiruvananthapuram Rural has conveyed his finding on the issue. It is stated therein that, in the admission register of Government L.P.S Thalayal, the date of birth of the appellant is recorded as 22.2.1991. As the date of crime is 13.01.2008, on that date, he was aged 16 years 10 months and 22 days. Along with the said inquiry report, the birth certificate of the appellant from Thiruvananthapuram Corporation is also produced, as per which, his date of birth is 14.12.1990. In the hospital records of SAT Hospital Thiruvananthapuram, which is another record made available along with the said report, his date of birth is shown as 14.12.1990. This would indicate that the entry in the Corporation is based on the Hospital records. We notice that, Government L.P.S Thalayal is the first school which he attended. Whichever date is taken, he was a minor at the time of commission of the offence. Thus the appellant was a juvenile in conflict with law as defined under section 2(l) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (JJ Act). As per the provisions of the same, power to try the offences committed by a Juvenile in conflict with law is exclusively vested upon the Juvenile Justice Board constituted under section 4 of the Act.

7. Section 7A of the JJ Act contemplates, a detailed procedure for considering the claim of juvenility when it is raised before the Court. The said provision reads as follows.

"S.7A -Procedure to be followed when claim of juvenility is raised before any court. (1)Whenever a claim of juvenility is raised before any court or a court is of the opinion that an accused person was a juvenile on the date of commission of the offence, the court shall make an inquiry, take such evidence as may be necessary (but not an affidavit) so as to determine the age of such person, and shall record a finding whether the pers