Juveniles are entitled to bail under the Juvenile Justice Act unless exceptional circumstances exist, regardless of the offence's gravity.

ORDER :

1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner (juvenile-through her legal guardian, maternal aunt Smt. Chandni) as well as learned Public Prosecutor.

2. The allegation against the petitioner is of offence under Section 08/21 of NDPS Act. The bail application filed by the petitioner under Section 12 of the Act of 2015 before Principal Magistrate, Juvenile Justice Board, Sriganganagar was rejected vide order dated 13.02.2024. Being aggrieved by the said order, an appeal was filed by the petitioner before the learned Sessions Judge (Juvenile Court), Sriganganagar in Criminal Appeal No. 20/2024 and the same has been dismissed by learned Appellate Court vide impugned order dated 20.02.2024.

3. Being aggrieved of the orders dated 13.02.2024 and 20.02.2024 passed by the Courts below, the petitioner has preferred this revision petition before this Court.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is below 18 years of age and she has falsely been implicated in this case. The challan of the case has already been presented. He further submits that the recovered contraband is below commercial quantity. Further there is no evidence to show that if the juvenile-petitioner is released on bail, then her release is likely to bring her into association with any known criminal, or expose her to moral, physical or psychological danger, or that her release would defeat the ends of justice. It is argued that learned Courts below have not appreciated the fact that the petitioner is juvenile and entitled to get benefit of provisions of the Act of 2015. Section 12 of the Act of 2015 clearly provides that if the accused is juvenile, then he should be released on bail, but learned Courts below fully ignored the provisions of the Act of 2015. The petitioner is in custody since long time and no further detention of the petitioner is required for any purpose. Learned counsel for the petitioner further submitted that the gravity of the offence committed cannot be a ground to decline bail to a juvenile.

5. On the other hand, learned Public Prosecutor defended the impugned order passed by the Juvenile Justice Board in declining the bail to the petitioner as also the judgment passed by the Appellate Court upholding the order passed by the Juvenile Justice Board.

6. I have carefully considered the submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and also perused the provisions of the Act of 2015.

7. The language of Section 12 of the Act of 2015 conveys the intention of the Legislature to grant bail to the juvenile, irrespective of nature or gravity of the offence, alleged to have been committed by her and bail can be denied only in the case where there appears reasonable grounds for believing that the release is likely to bring her into association with any known criminal, or expose her to moral, physical or psychological danger, or that her release would defeat ends of justice.

8. In this context, I have also scanned through and perused the orders passed by the courts below. Having carefully examined provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act vis-a-vis the orders passed by the courts below, I do not find that any of the exceptional circumstances, to decline bail to a juvenile, as indicated in Section 12 of the Act of 2015, is made out.

9. In view of the aforesaid discussion, this revision petition is allowed and the order dated 13.02.2024 passed by the Principal Magistrate, Juvenile Justice Board, Sriganganagar as well as order dated 20.02.2024 passed by learned Sessions Judge (Juvenile Court), Sriganganagar, declining bail to the petitioner are hereby set aside.

10. It is ordered that the juvenile accused-petitioner Kishori S D/o Suraj, shall be released on bail in FIR No. 34/2024, PS Sadul Shahar, Dist. Sriganganagar upon furnishing a personal bond by her legal guardian, in the sum of Rs. 1,00,000/- along with a surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of learned Principal Magistrate, Juvenile Justice Board, Sriganganagar; with the