Chandigarh: After 3 yrs in jail, teen booked for murder bid declared juvenile

On the day of the incident in March 2020, the accused was 17 years, 11 months and 27 days old; on the plea of his counsels, court has directed that he be sent to a juvenile home

A youth, who was arrested in connection with an attempt to murder case in 2020 and had been in judicial custody at Model Jail, Sector 51, for over three years, has now been declared as a juvenile at the time of the incident by a local court.

On March 17, 2020, the accused with his accomplice had allegedly broken into the house of advocate Amit Singh Sethi in Sector 9 and tried to steal the dish antenna installed on the roof of his house. (Getty Images/Purestock)

The youth, a resident of Nayagaon, was arrested on May 10, 2020. On the day of the incident, he was 17 years, 11 months and 27 days old. He had applied for bail that was rejected.

On March 17, 2020, the accused with his accomplice had allegedly broken into the house of advocate Amit Singh Sethi in Sector 9 and tried to steal the dish antenna installed on the roof of his house. When Sethi confronted them, they allegedly attacked him. In the spat, the victim suffered injuries and was taken to a hospital for treatment.

A case under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 379 (theft), 452 (house-trespass) and 511 (attempting to commit offences) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at the Sector 3 police station. Two Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 397 (robbery) of the IPC were added later.

After the accused’s case was taken up by advocates Prakul Kashyap and Amandeep Singh, they submitted an application in March this year that the accused be treated as a juvenile, a fact which was overlooked at the time of his arrest.

Meanwhile, the police, in their reply, said considering the grievous nature of the crime the accused may not be considered as a juvenile.

The application filed by the accused has now been accepted by the court of the additional sessions judge in the ongoing trial. The court has directed that the accused be sent to a juvenile home for now. The maximum sentence imposed on a juvenile is three years that the convict has already gone through.

The next date of hearing is August 8 and will now be taken up by the Juvenile Justice Board, as per the accused’s counsels.

They added that they will now again file for bail as he continues to be locked up in Model Jail.