Employment of a minor in non-hazardous work does not constitute an offence under the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986, unless evidence of mistreatment or hazardous conditions is presented.

O R D E R

This Criminal Miscellaneous Case is filed to quash the proceedings in S.C. No. 1215 of 2015 pending before the District and Sessions Court, Kollam.

2. When this Crl.M.C. came up for consideration on 09.08.2024, this Court directed the Registry to get a report from the court concerned about the present stage of the case. The Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Chavara submitted a report stating that the case is now transferred to that court and it is pending as C.C. No. 881/2017.

3. The above case is charge sheeted alleging offence punishable under Section 23 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 (for short 'JJ Act').

4. The prosecution case is that the petitioner, with an intention of employing the 2nd respondent, who was a minor at the time of the incident, employed him in the Neendakara Harbour in a boat and committed the above said offence. According to the petitioner, even if the entire allegations are acccepted, no offence is made out. Hence this Crl.M.C. is filed.

5. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor. 6. Annexure A2 is the final report in this case.

The allegation in the final report is extracted hereunder:

“

പ്രതതി മമൈനററായ 1-)o സറാകതിയയ യകറാണ്ടു ജജറാലതി യചെയതിപതിചച ടതിയറാനച സറാമ്പതതിക ലറാഭഭം ഉണറാക്കണയമൈന്നുള്ള ഉജദ്ദേശജതറാടഭം കരുതജലറാടഭം കൂടതി 6.10.14 00:45 മൈണതിക്കച നനീണകര വതിജല്ലേജതി ടതി

ൽ മുറതിയതി നനീണകര ഹറാ ബറതി പ്രതതി മു പറായക വള്ളതതി

ൽ ർ ൽ ൻ ൽ ജജറാലതി യചെയതിപതിക്കുന്നതറായതി 6-)o സറാകതി മുത ജപരറായതി

ൽ കറാണയപട. പ്രതതി ജമൈ വകുപ്പുപ്രകറാരമുള്ള ശതികറാ ഹമൈറായ കുറഭം

ൽ ർ ”

യചെയതിരതിക്കുന്നു എന്നുള്ളതച.

7. This Court also perused the FIR. The FIR is registered based on an information submitted by the Sub Inspector of Police, Neendakara. In the information, it is only stated that “ ............ ടതി വള്ളതതി

ൽ ജജറാലതി യചെയതിക്കുന്നതറായതി ശ്രദ്ധയതി യപട്ടതതിനറാ ടതിയറാനറായര ൽ ൽ ”

ജസ്റ്റേഷനതി കൂട്ടതിയകറാണ്ടു വന്നതിടള്ളതറാണച.

ൽ

8. What exactly the nature of job done by the minor is not mentioned in the final report or in the First Information Report. There is no material produced by the prosecution to prove the same. This Court in Joseph v. State of Kerala [2014 (2) KHC 48] considered the ingrediants to attract Section 23 of the JJ Act. It will be better to extract the relevant portion of the above order:

“13. In order to attract an offence under S.23 of the Act, it must be proved by the prosecution that: (a) person having the actual charge or control over a juvenile or child, (b) assaults, abandons, exposes or wilfully neglects the juvenile or (c) causes or procures him to be assaulted, abandoned, exposed or neglected, (d) in a manner likely to cause such juvenile or the child unnecessary mental or physical suffering.

14. Even assuming that the petitioner as in charge or control of the juvenile or child, he is only providing shelter to the child and looking after her. Merely because she was helping the inmates of the house in the kitchen, voluntarily, it cannot be said that she was put to hazardous work or exposed to danger. She has no such case in her statement before the police as well. In fact when she was found in an abandoned state, the petitioner took her and gave shelter to her and protected her. If she does some work to help the inmates, it cannot be said that she was treated cruelly either physically or mentally so as to attract the provision of this Act.

15. It is true that Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 has been enacted to protect the interest of juvenile or child, who require care and protection and also to reform the juvenile, who is in conflict with law. In this case, on going through the allegations in Annexure-A1 final report and also the statement of the victim girl herself will go to show that, she was abandoned by her parents and she was left in a house at Bangalore by her mother to work as a servant maid and due to ill-treatment in that house, she was forced to leave that house and thereafter she was taken care of by the petitioner, w