May 16, 2019:
Supreme Court in review petition against death penalty to a murder accused has observed that Capital punishment can never be imposed on a juvenile.
A bench of Justice Banerjee and Justice Khanna has passed the order in the case titled as NARAYAN CHETANRAM CHAUDHARY vs THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA on 16.05.2019.
The applicant - Narayan Chetanram Chaudhary has filed an application (Crl.M.P.No.5242 of 2016 in R.P.(Crl.)Nos.1139-1140/2000 in Crl.A.Nos.25-26/2000) seeking review of the final judgment of this Court dated 05.09.2000 in Criminal Appeal Nos.25- 26 of 2000, upholding his conviction under Sections 342, 397, 449 The applicant - Narayan Chetanram Chaudhary has filed an application (Crl.M.P.No.5242 of 2016 in R.P.(Crl.)Nos.1139- 1140/2000 in Crl.A.Nos.25-26/2000) seeking review of the final judgment of this Court dated 05.09.2000 in Criminal Appeal Nos.25- 26 of 2000, upholding his conviction under Sections 342, 397, 449 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as the `IPC’) and the sentence of death awarded to him under Section 302 IPC by reopening the Review Petition(Crl.)Nos.1139-1140 of 2000, which were dismissed by this Court on 24.11.2000. The applicant has also filed an application (Crl.M.P.No.157334 of 2018 in R.P. (Crl.)Nos.1139-1140/2000 in Crl.A.Nos.25-26/2000) under Section 9(2) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (hereinafter referred to as `the Act’) seeking a declaration that he was a juvenile at the time of commission of offence. The applicant has placed certain additional documents to prove his juvenility at the time of commission of offence.
Supreme Court had asked for and received a report from District Judge intimating the age of the accused at the time of commission of offence. It observed "Prima facie there is a report of the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Pune to the effect that on 24.08.1994, the age of the petitioner/applicant Narayan @ Niranaram s/o Chetanram Chaudhary was 12 years and six months. In other words, the petitioner was a juvenile on the date of the offence alleged".
Contextually, the Supreme Court said "Capital punishment can never be imposed on a juvenile. However, the issue of whether the petitioner was a child on the date of the alleged offence has to be finally decided".
Read the Order here:
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