Any Sympathy Would Be Misplaced Sympathy: Madhya Pradesh HC Directs Trial Of Child Accused Of Murder By Children’s Court
The Madhya Pradesh High Court directed trial of child accused of murder before the Children's Court and not by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) after taking into consideration the child's mental and physical capacity to commit murder and his criminal antecedents.
The Court noted that the Child along with other co-accused persons was booked under Section 302 IPC and was earlier booked under Sections 354/354D/323/506/34 of IPC and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
The Court was hearing a Criminal Revision challenging the order of the trial Court arising out of an order of the Juvenile Justice Board that rejected the application filed by the complainant under Section 15 of The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and held that the case does not deserve to be referred to the Children’s Court and can be tried by Juvenile Board only.
A Single Bench of Justice Subodh Abhyankar observed, "when a child in conflict has already committed an offence under Sections 354/354D/323/506/34 of IPC and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and has already spent twenty days in children’s home/juvenile home, and subsequently commits the offence under Section 302 of IPC, any sympathy shown to him is nothing but a misplaced sympathy, resulting only in further promoting his misdemeanor. Thus, no further leniency can be shown to such child in conflict with law to rectify his behavior."
Advocate Lakhan Singh Panwar appeared for the Appellant and Advocate Mukesh Sharma appeared for the Respondent.
Brief Facts-
The complainant lodged an FIR stating that upon returning home, he witnessed his brother, Shivam, being assaulted with a knife by the accused, while other accused, including respondents No.2 and No.3 held Shivam down. The accused were minors so their cases were referred to the Juvenile Justice Board. The complainant filed an application under Section 15 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, to try their cases in the Children’s Court that was dismissed by the Juvenile Justice Board and a subsequent appeal under Section 101 of the Act was also dismissed by the Sessions court. The present criminal revision is filed in response to those dismissals.
The Court noted that the accused was in the company of such persons against whom many cases were registered under the IPC and Arms Act.
The Court further noted that the accused was in bad company and has indulged in criminal activities since he was around 15 years old when he committed an offence u/s.354 of IPC and also under the POCSO Act for which he has also spent around twenty days in the Children’s home/juvenile home.
The Court also noted from the Facebook posts that respondent No.3 wanted to dominate the other like-minded person of his age, as he has even referred to Section 302 in the Facebook post.
Finally, the Court set aside the order of the trial Court and allowed the Application.
Cause Title: Saurabh v. The State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors.
