Patna High Court
Shivlal Yadav vs The State Of Bihar on 1 May, 2025
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL REVISION No.191 of 2024
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-112 Year-2022 Thana- BASOPATTI District- Madhubani
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Shivlal Yadav, son of Bisheshwar Yadav, R/O Vill-Madhiya, Ps-Basopatti,
Dist-Madhubani
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
1. The State of Bihar
2. Naresh Yadav, son of Jay Narayan Yadav Village- Madhiya Ps- Basopatti
Dist- Madhubani
... ... Respondent/s
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Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Sudhir Kumar Mishra
For the Respondent/s : Mr. Nand Kumar, APP
For the O.P. No. 2 : Mr. Shubham Kumar, Advocate
Mr. Nishant Choudhary, Advocate
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BIBEK CHAUDHURI
ORAL JUDGMENT
Date : 01-05-2025
1. The informant of Basopatti P. S. Case No.
112 of 2022, dated 31st of May, 2022, corresponding to
G.R. No. 845 of 2022 (E.N. - 1014 of 2023), registered
for the offences punishable under Sections 302, 201 and
120(B0 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 27 of the
Arms Act, has challenged the legality, validity and
correctness of the order, dated, 20th of September, 2023,
passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge 1st cum
Juvenile Justice, Madhubani in Juvenile Appeal No. 39 of
2023, holding, inter alia, that the Opposite Party No. 2
Patna High Court CR. REV. No.191 of 2024 dt.01-05-2025
was a juvenile on the date of alleged occurrence on the
basis of his matriculation certificate where his date of
birth was recorded.
2. It is held by the learned Court of Appeal that
when a juvenile files certificate, issued by the Bihar
School Examination Board, the Juvenile Justice Board
(hereinafter referred to as "JJB" for short) is under an
obligation to accept the same and no enquiry is to be
undertaken by the Board to ascertain his age.
3. Section 94 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Act, 2015 speaks of circumstances
to be considered by the Board for presumption and
determination of age of CICL. Provision runs thus: -
"94. Presumption and determination of
age. (1) Where, it is obvious to the
Committee or the Board, based on the
appearance of the person brought before it
under any of the provisions of this Act
(other than for the purpose of giving
evidence) that the said person is a child,
the Committee or the Board shall record
such observation stating the age of the
child as nearly as may be and proceed with
Patna High Court CR. REV. No.191 of 2024 dt.01-05-2025
the inquiry under section 14 or section 36,
as the case may be, without waiting for
further confirmation of the age.
(2) In case, the Committee or the
Board has reasonable grounds for doubt
regarding whether the person brought
before it is a child or not, the Committee or
the Board, as the case may be, shall
undertake the process of age
determination, by seeking evidence by
obtaining -
(i) the date of birth certificate
from the school, or the matriculation or
equivalent certificate from the concerned
examination Board, if available; and in the
absence thereof;
(ii) the birth certificate given by
a corporation or a municipal authority or
a panchayat;
(iii) and only in the absence of (i)
and (ii) above, age shall be determined by
an ossification test or any other latest
medical age determination test conducted
on the orders of the Committee or the
Board:
Provided such age determination
test conducted on the order of the
Committee or the Board shall be completed
Patna High Court CR. REV. No.191 of 2024 dt.01-05-2025
within fifteen days from the date of such
order.
(3)The age recorded by the
Committee or the Board to be the age of
person so brought before it shall, for the
purpose of this Act, be deemed to be the
true age of that person."
4. Sub-section (1) of Section 94 states that the
JJB is authorized to proceed with the enquiry under
Section 14 or Section 36, as the case may be, without
waiting for further confirmation of the age, when it
appears to the Board, based on the appearance of the
person, that the said person is a child. Sub-section (1) of
Section 94 does not state any requirement for filing any
document in support of the proof of date of birth. Sub-
section (2) of Section 94, on the other hand, states that
when the Board has reasonable ground for doubt
regarding whether the person brought before it is a child
or not, the Board shall undertake the process of age
determination by seeking evidence by obtaining (i) the
date of birth certificate from the school, or the
matriculation or equivalent certificate from the concerned
Examination Board, if available; and in the absence
Patna High Court CR. REV. No.191 of 2024 dt.01-05-2025
thereof (ii) the birth certificate given by a corporation or
a municipal authority or a panchayat (iii) and only in the
absence of (i) and (ii) above, age shall be determined by
an ossification test or any other latest medical age
determination test conducted on the orders of the
Committee or the Board.
5. Section 94 provides a provision relating to
"Presumption and Determination of Age". Thus, the
above provision never states that the date of birth
certificate from the school or matriculation or equivalent
certificate from the concerned Examination Board shall be
a conclusive proof of the date of birth of the CICL.
Section 94 provides that Court shall presume the
correctness of the date of birth recorded in the birth
certificate of the school or matriculation or equivalent
certificate unless rebutted.
6. Therefore, in a case where statutory
presumption can be taken, there is always a provision for
rebuttal by the opposite party.
7. Thus, Section 94 does not mandate the Board
to accept the matriculation certificate of the CICL as the
Patna High Court CR. REV. No.191 of 2024 dt.01-05-2025
date of birth where there is reasonable ground for doubt
regarding whether the person brought before it is a child
or not.
8. In the instant case, the Board had reasonable
doubt regarding the age of CICL on the basis of
matriculation certificate. Therefore, the Board summoned
the Principal of the concerned school from where the said
certificate was issued. The Principal stated that the school
authority recorded the date of birth of the Opposite Party
No. 2 on the basis of the transfer certificate issued by the
Middle School. Then, the Board summoned the concerned
authority of the Middle School. The Middle School
authority stated before the Board that the CICL was never
a student of the said Middle School and no such transfer
certificate was issued by the said Middle School.
Therefore, the Board found that the transfer certificate on
the basis of which the date of birth of the CICL was
recorded was a false and forged document. Therefore, the
JJB rightly did not accept the matriculation certificate of
the CICL and directed him to appear before the Medical
Board for ossification test.
Patna High Court CR. REV. No.191 of 2024 dt.01-05-2025
9. In Court On Its Own Motion V. State Of
NCT Of Delhi (CRL. REF. 2/2024), a Co-ordinate Bench
of the High Court of Delhi, vide judgment, dated 2nd of
July, 2024, held that as per Section 94 of JJ Act, whenever
any person is brought before the Child Welfare
Committee or Juvenile Justice Board and there are
reasonable grounds for doubt regarding the age of such
person, the Committee or the Board shall undertake the
process of age determination by seeking evidence. As per
the above Section, the first preference has to be given to a
date of birth certificate from the school and in absence
thereof a birth certificate given by the concerned
Municipal Authority and it is only in the absence of the
aforesaid two documents that the age would be
determined by an ossification test or any other latest
medical age determination test conducted on the orders of
the Committee or the Board.
10. The High Court of Delhi in the above-
mentioned judgment relied upon the decision of the
Hon'ble Supreme Court in in Jarnail Singh v. State of
Haryana, reported in 2013 SCC OnLine SC 507.
Patna High Court CR. REV. No.191 of 2024 dt.01-05-2025
Paragraph Nos. 22 and 23 of Jarnail Singh (supra) read
as hereunder:-
"22. On the issue of determination of age of
a minor, one only needs to make a reference
to Rule 12 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Rules, 2007
(hereinafter referred to as "the 2007
Rules"). The aforestated 2007 Rules have
been framed under Section 68(1) of the
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of
Children) Act, 2000. Rule 12 referred to
hereinabove reads as under:
"12.Procedure to be followed in
determination of age.--(1) In every case
concerning a child or a juvenile in conflict
with law, the court or the Board or as the
case may be, the Committee referred to in
Rule 19 of these Rules shall determine the
age of such juvenile or child or a juvenile
in conflict with law within a period of thirty
days from the date of making of the
application for that purpose.
(2) The court or the Board or as the case
may be the Committee shall decide the
juvenility or otherwise of the juvenile or the
child or as the case may be the juvenile in
conflict with law, prima facie on the basis
Patna High Court CR. REV. No.191 of 2024 dt.01-05-2025
of physical appearance or documents, if
available, and send him to the observation
home or in jail.
(3) In every case concerning a child or
juvenile in conflict with law, the age
determination inquiry shall be conducted
by the court or the Board or, as the case
may be, the Committee by seeking evidence
by obtaining--
(a)(i) the matriculation or equivalent
certificates, if available; and in the absence
whereof;
(ii) the date of birth certificate from the
school (other than a play school) first
attended; and in the absence whereof;
(iii) the birth certificate given by a
corporation or a municipal authority or a
panchayat;
(b) and only in the absence of either (i),
(ii) or (iii) of clause (a) above, the medical
opinion will be sought from a duly
constituted Medical Board, which will
declare the age of the juvenile or child. In
case exact assessment of the age cannot be
done, the court or the Board or, as the case
may be, the Committee, for the reasons to
be recorded by them, may, if considered
Patna High Court CR. REV. No.191 of 2024 dt.01-05-2025
necessary, give benefit to the child or
juvenile by considering his/her age on
lower side within the margin of one year,
and, while passing orders in such case
shall, after taking into consideration such
evidence as may be available, or the
medical opinion, as the case may be, record
a finding in respect of his age and either of
the evidence specified in any of the clauses
(a)(i), (ii), (iii) or in the absence whereof,
clause (b) shall be the conclusive proof of
the age as regards such child or the
juvenile in conflict with law.
(4) If the age of a juvenile or child or the
juvenile in conflict with law is found to be
below 18 years on the date of offence, on
the basis of any of the conclusive proof
specified in sub-rule (3), the court or the
Board or as the case may be the Committee
shall in writing pass an order stating the
age and declaring the status of juvenility or
otherwise, for the purpose of the Act and
these Rules and a copy of the order shall be
given to such juvenile or the person
concerned.
(5) Save and except where, further
inquiry or otherwise is required, inter alia,
in terms of Section 7-A, Section 64 of the
Patna High Court CR. REV. No.191 of 2024 dt.01-05-2025
Act and these Rules, no further inquiry
shall be conducted by the court or the
Board after examining and obtaining the
certificate or any other documentary proof
referred to in sub-rule (3) of this Rule.
(6) The provisions contained in this Rule
shall also apply to those disposed of cases,
where the status of juvenility has not been
determined in accordance with the
provisions contained in sub-rule (3) and the
Act, requiring dispensation of the sentence
under the Act for passing appropriate order
in the interest of the juvenile in conflict with
law."
23. Even though Rule 12 is
strictly applicable only to determine the
age of a child in conflict with law, we are of
the view that the aforesaid statutory
provision should be the basis for
determining age, even of a child who is a
victim of crime. For, in our view, there is
hardly any difference insofar as the issue of
minority is concerned, between a child in
conflict with law, and a child who is a
victim of crime. Therefore, in our
considered opinion, it would be just and
appropriate to apply Rule 12 of the 2007
Rules, to determine the age of the
Patna High Court CR. REV. No.191 of 2024 dt.01-05-2025
prosecutrix VW, PW 6. The manner of
determining age conclusively has been
expressed in sub-rule (3) of Rule 12
extracted above. Under the aforesaid
provision, the age of a child is ascertained
by adopting the first available basis out of
a number of options postulated in Rule
12(3). If, in the scheme of options under
Rule 12(3), an option is expressed in a
preceding clause, it has overriding effect
over an option expressed in a subsequent
clause. The highest rated option available
would conclusively determine the age of a
minor. In the scheme of Rule 12(3),
matriculation (or equivalent) certificate of
the child concerned is the highest rated
option. In case, the said certificate is
available, no other evidence can be relied
upon. Only in the absence of the said
certificate, Rule 12(3) envisages
consideration of the date of birth entered in
the school first attended by the child. In
case such an entry of date of birth is
available, the date of birth depicted therein
is liable to be treated as final and
conclusive, and no other material is to be
relied upon. Only in the absence of such
entry, Rule 12(3) postulates reliance on a
Patna High Court CR. REV. No.191 of 2024 dt.01-05-2025
birth certificate issued by a corporation or
a municipal authority or a panchayat. Yet
again, if such a certificate is available, then
no other material whatsoever is to be taken
into consideration for determining the age
of the child concerned, as the said
certificate would conclusively determine the
age of the child. It is only in the absence of
any of the aforesaid, that Rule 12(3)
postulates the determination of age of the
child concerned, on the basis of medical
opinion."
11. Thus, the JJB found during enquiry as to the
authenticity of the matriculation certificate that the date of
birth mentioned in the matriculation certificate was not
based on genuine document produced by the CICL.
Therefore, the Board refused to accept the certificate
issued by Bihar School Examination Board and conducted
enquiry.
12. The learned Court of Appeal misplaced the
scope and purport of Section 94 of the said Act and came
to a wrong finding that whatever may be written as
regards date of birth in the matriculation certificate as to
the age of CICL, that is to be accepted as gospel truth.
Patna High Court CR. REV. No.191 of 2024 dt.01-05-2025
The above finding is absolutely wrong and the learned
Additional Sessions Judge 1st cum Juvenile Justice,
Madhubani committed patent illegality and material
irregularity by passing the impugned order.
13. Accordingly, the impugned order, dated 20th
of September, 2023, passed by the learned Additional
Sessions Judge 1st cum Juvenile Justice, Madhubani in
Juvenile Appeal No. 39 of 2023, is set aside.
14. The learned Additional Sessions Judge 1st
cum Juvenile Justice, Madhubani is directed to dispose of
the Appeal No. 39 of 2023 on the basis of observation
made by this Court within two months from the date of
communication of the order.
15. The instant revision application stands
allowed, on contest, however, without costs.
(Bibek Chaudhuri, J)
skm/-
AFR/NAFR NAFR
CAV DATE N/A
Uploading Date 02.05.2025
Transmission Date 02.05.2025
