BENGALURU: Karnataka high court has observed that an accused can raise a plea any time that he was a minor at the time of the alleged offence and directed the Juvenile Justice Board to consider afresh the case of a rape-accused teen from Kampli in Ballari district.
The teen was accused of sexually assaulting a minor in his neighbourhood. The case was registered on a complaint from the girl’s grandmother.Since both the accused and the survivor were aged about 16 and specific age proof was not available about the suspect, an ossification test was conducted, indicating his age between 16 and 18 at the time. The case was then transferred to a special court for cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012.
The accused challenged the move in HC, contending that he should have been tried under the Juvenile Justice Act. After perusing materials on record and several Supreme Court judgments, Justice M Nagaprasanna noted that the petitioner had never attended school. Hence, his school records weren’t available.
“The ossification test isn’t conclusive, as it could vary by a year or two and the variance should be towards the benefit of the juvenile, at least for one year, and the juvenile should be tried as a juvenile by the Juvenile Justice Board and not by a regular court before the magistrate,” the judge observed and suspended the Pocso proceedings.
The teen was accused of sexually assaulting a minor in his neighbourhood. The case was registered on a complaint from the girl’s grandmother.Since both the accused and the survivor were aged about 16 and specific age proof was not available about the suspect, an ossification test was conducted, indicating his age between 16 and 18 at the time. The case was then transferred to a special court for cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012.
The accused challenged the move in HC, contending that he should have been tried under the Juvenile Justice Act. After perusing materials on record and several Supreme Court judgments, Justice M Nagaprasanna noted that the petitioner had never attended school. Hence, his school records weren’t available.
“The ossification test isn’t conclusive, as it could vary by a year or two and the variance should be towards the benefit of the juvenile, at least for one year, and the juvenile should be tried as a juvenile by the Juvenile Justice Board and not by a regular court before the magistrate,” the judge observed and suspended the Pocso proceedings.
Source Agencies
