Accused can claim to be juvenile at any stage of criminal case: HC

A 22-year delay can’t be a ground for rejecting juvenility claim, rules Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court in a recent order

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has ruled that an accused can claim to be a juvenile at any stage of a criminal case.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has set aside a Sitapur trial court order. (REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)

In a recent order, a single-judge bench of Justice Shree Prakash Singh ruled that the claim of juvenility could be raised even before final disposal in the trial court or after the final order is passed in an appeal.

The court added that even a delay of 22 years in raising the claim of juvenility cannot be a ground for rejection.

With this, the high court set aside a Sitapur trial court order that had rejected the petitioner’s claim of juvenility in a dowry case due to a delay of 22 years.

The high court sent the case back to the trial court.

THE CASE

The petitioner apprised the court that on September 4, 2000, an FIR was lodged against her and some family members at the Pisawan police station in Sitapur under the Dowry Prohibition Act.

She surrendered before the trial court in Sitapur and was granted bail.

In the chargesheet filed by the investigating officer, it was also clearly mentioned that the petitioner was 13 years old when the FIR was lodged.

After filing of the chargesheet, the trial court sent summons to the petitioner at her parental address.

The petitioner’s parents did not disclose her new address where she was residing with her husband after marriage.

When the petitioner came to know about summons from the court, she moved an application before the court of the chief judicial magistrate, Sitapur, on October 14, 2022 after 22 years, claiming to be a juvenile at the time when FIR was lodged.

But the court rejected the application and, on December 7, 2022, issued a non-bailable warrant against the petitioner which she challenged in the high court.