The Allahabad High Court allowed the revision application seeking bail rejected by the Juvenile Justice Board and Appellate Court under Section 12 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 ("JJ Act, 2015").
A single judge bench of this Court comprising of Hon’ble Justice Sanjay Kumar Pachori held that the juvenile's bail cannot be denied due to the nature of the offense he committed.
Brief Facts:
The revisionist preferred the Present Criminal Revision through his father under Section 102 of JJ Act, 2015 against the Judgment dated 10.06.2022. The Juvenile Justice Board has rejected the bail application of the revisionist, which has been filed by his natural guardian/father, under Section 12 of JJ Act, 2015.
The bail application was rejected, observing that there appears a reasonable ground for believing that the guardian of the juvenile has no effective control over the revisionist and there is a possibility of re-occurrence of the offence after his release.
Contentions of the Revisionist:
The learned Counsel for the revisionist submitted that the revisionist is innocent and falsely implicated in the present case due to an ulterior motive. It was further submitted that the case rests upon circumstantial evidence and the Juvenile Justice Board as well as the Appellate Court have not appreciated the Social Information Report of the Probation Officer in its right perspective and passed the impugned Judgment and order in a cursory manner without considering the position of law and have declined bail to the revisionist.
Contentions of the Respondents:
The learned Counsel for the Respondents contended that the revisionist had committed a heinous crime. Therefore, considering the gravity of the offence, the present criminal revision is liable to be dismissed.
Observations of the Court:
This Court observed that provisions of Section 12 of "JJ Act, 2015" manifest that the Juvenile Justice Board is under obligation to release the juvenile on bail with or without surety. The juvenile shall not be released in certain circumstances as the latter part of the section also uses the word 'shall' imposing certain mandatory conditions prohibiting the release of the juvenile by the Juvenile Justice Board.
Further, it appeared to the Court that the intention of the legislature is to grant bail to the juvenile irrespective of the nature or gravity of the offence alleged to have been committed by the juvenile, and bail can be declined only in such cases where there are reasonable grounds to believe that the release is likely to bring the juvenile into an association of any known criminal or expose him to moral, physical, or psychological danger, or that his release would defeat the ends of justice.
Due to the above observations, the Court held that the findings recorded by the Juvenile Justice Board as well as the Appellate Court are based on the heinousness of the offence. Therefore, the order dated 22.09.2021 passed by the Juvenile Justice Board and Judgment dated 10.06.2022 passed by the Appellate Court are not sustainable.
The decision of the Court:
The Allahabad High Court, allowing the revision application, held that Section 12 of "JJ Act, 2015" does not provide the power to reject the bail on the basis of the nature of offense.
Case Title: X (Minor) v. State of U.P. and Another
Coram: Hon’ble Justice Sanjay Kumar Pachori
Case no.: Criminal Revision No. - 3194 of 2022
Advocate for the Revisionist: Sri Kumar Kartikey
Advocate for the Opposite Party: Sri Mir Sayed
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