Prosecution against guardians for juvenile offences requires timely registration of crime and filing of Social Background Report.

O R D E R

The petitioner is the accused in C.C.No.808 of 2023 on the file of the Court of the Judicial First Class Magistrate-I, Manjeri ('Trial Court', for short), which has originated from Crime No.560 of 2023 registered by the Manjeri Police Station, Malappuram, alleging the commission of the offences punishable under Section 336 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 199A (1), 199A(2), 5 and 180 of the Motor Vehicles Act , 1988 (‘MV Act’, in short).

2. The gist of the prosecution case is that;

On 11.05.2023 at around 17.15 hours, the petitioner had provided a scooter to a minor to drive on the public road. Thus, the petitioner has committed the above offences.

3. The petitioner has stated in the Criminal Miscellaneous Case that she had not given her vehicle to any person as alleged by the prosecution. As the commission of offences under Section 199A (1) of the MV Act by juvenile is a mandatory requirement to attract the offences under (2), 5 and 180 of the MV Act, and there being no material to substantiate the commission of offences by a juvenile, it cuts at the very root of the prosecution case. Even though Annexure-1 FIR was registered on 11.05.2023, no Social Background Report of the juvenile in Form No.1 as envisaged under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016, (‘Rules’, in short), has been filed till date. Due to non- filing of the above report and the non-registration of a crime against the juvenile, the prosecution against the petitioner is unsustainable in law. Hence, Annexure-1 FIR, Annexure-2 final report and all further proceedings in C.C.No.808 of 2023 may be quashed.

4. Heard; the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor.

5. The learned counsel for the petitioner reiterated the contentions in the Crl.M.C. He relied on the decision of this Court in Sharafudheen v. State of Kerala [2024 (4) KHC 405] , to substantiate his contention that, a prosecution against the guardian of a juvenile or owner of a motor vehicle under Section 199A of the MV Act can be initiated only if the information regarding the commission of an offence by the juvenile has been recorded in the General Diary and such information has been followed by a Social Background Report of a child in Form No.1 to the Juvenile Justice Board as per the Rules without any undue delay. In any given case, the final report in relation to the offence allegedly committed by the juvenile ought to be submitted before the Juvenile Justice Board within two months from the date of information in the General Diary.

6. The learned Public Prosecutor does not dispute the fact that, although the alleged incident took place on 11.05.2023, no Social Background Report of the alleged juvenile has till date been filed before the Juvenile Justice Board even after the lapse of more thantwo years and no crime has been registered against the juvenile.

7. In light of the principles laid down by this Court in Sharafudheen’s case (supra), which I fully concur, I am of the definite view that, Annexure-1 FIR, Annexure-2 final report and all further proceedings in C.C.No.808 of 2023 are unsustainable in law. As long as no crime has been registered against the juvenile, the prosecution will not be against the petitioner.

In the aforesaid circumstances, I allow the Crl.M.C., by quashing Annexure-1 FIR, Annexure-2 final report and all further proceedings in C.C.No.808 of 2023 of the Trial Court as against the petitioner.

Sd/-