E-Paper
SC grants bail to 13 juveniles lodged at Agra jail for over 14 years
The 13 convicts approached the Supreme Court last month, claiming their detention to be “illegal” as there were clear orders passed by the Juvenile Justice Board with regard to each of them at various intervals, declaring them to be juvenile at the time they had committed the crime
The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to 13 prisoners lodged at Agra Central Jail who spent 14-22 years in jail despite being juveniles at the time of committing the crimes.
The 13 convicts approached the Supreme Court last month, claiming their detention to be “illegal” as there were clear orders passed by the Juvenile Justice Board with regard to each of them at various intervals between February 2017 and March 2021, declaring them to be juvenile at the time they had committed the crime.
A bench of justices Indira Banerjee and V Ramasubramanian released the 13 convicts on interim bail, subject to furnishing personal bonds. It also gave the state two weeks’ time to verify the facts about their continued stay in jail despite an order establishing their juvenility.
Uttar Pradesh’s additional advocate general Garima Parshad sought time to verify details about the 13 petitioners. However, the state did not object to the grant of interim bail.
The 13 prisoners had stated in their petition that their continued detention in jail along with hardened criminals violated the spirit and purpose of the Juvenile Justice Act 2000 which requires juvenile offenders to be tried separately. Had the Juvenile Boards tried these cases, the accused would have secured a maximum punishment of 3 years’ stay at an observation home.
Arguing the petition, advocate Rishi Malhotra said the case exposed the unfortunate and sorry state of affairs in Uttar Pradesh. According to him, there are similar persons who were juveniles at the time of committing the crime and languish behind bars for years together.
This fact came to light in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) proceeding pending before the Allahabad high court in 2012 where it was said that a significant number of prisoners lodged in UP jails were below 18 years of age at the time of commission of crime. The high court called for a report from director general (prisons) who confirmed this fact. In May 2012, the HC ordered an inquiry by Juvenile Justice Boards which resulted in orders being passed in the case of the 13 petitioners.
The petition said, “There is a clear infringement and violation of the fundamental right of the petitioners envisaged under Article 21 of the Constitution in as much as though the petitioners having judgments declaring them as juveniles are actually undergoing illegal detentions as on date and pray inter alia from the apex constitutional court to pass necessary orders of releasing them forthwith.”
