Can appellate court determine the age of a juvenile after conviction by trial court? My brother has been convicted by the trial court for the offence of murder. The trial court has convicted and punished him with imprisonment for life. During the trial the advocate from our side produced evidence that the accused was juvenile at the time of commission of offence. That evidence was not entertained by the trial court. Now we are going to file an appeal and I want to know whether the appellate court can determine the age of my brother and acquit him from all charges?
Asked from: Uttar Pradesh
You have stated that the Trial Court did not entertain your claim of juvenility. However, from the facts narrated by you, it is not clear whether the Trial Court actually rejected your application for determination of age or whether it recorded a categorical finding that the accused was not a juvenile. The position, as presently described, appears somewhat ambiguous.
It is important to bear in mind that unless the Court has specifically determined the age of the accused and recorded a finding that he was above eighteen years of age on the date of commission of the offence, the issue of juvenility cannot be said to have been conclusively decided.
Under Rule 12 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2007, read with Section 7A of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, whenever a plea of juvenility is raised before any Court or the Juvenile Justice Board, it becomes the bounden duty of the concerned Court or Board to conduct an inquiry and determine the age of the accused.
Rule 12 further prescribes the order of preference for determination of age. The Court is required to consider the following documents in sequence:
- Matriculation or equivalent certificate from the concerned examination board.
- In its absence, the date of birth certificate from the first school attended.
- If that is also unavailable, the birth certificate issued by the Municipal Authority or Panchayat.
- Only when none of the above documents are available, the age is to be determined through medical examination (bone ossification test) by a duly constituted Medical Board.
Further, Section 7A of the Juvenile Justice Act clearly provides that a claim of juvenility may be raised at any stage of the proceedings, even after the disposal of the case. Consequently, the appellate court is fully empowered to examine such a claim and determine whether the accused was a juvenile at the time of the alleged offence.
In Sher Singh alias Sheru vs State of U.P. (2017), reported in 2017 Cri LJ 233, the Allahabad High Court held that the issue of juvenility can be raised before the appellate court where the Trial Court either failed to decide the claim or decided it incorrectly. The Court recognized the right of the accused to seek such determination even at the appellate stage.
Therefore, if the Trial Court has either not determined the age of the accused at all or has rejected the claim without properly following the statutory procedure, you are legally entitled to raise the plea of juvenility before the appellate court. There is no legal bar in doing so.
In fact, the appellate court is empowered to determine the age of a juvenile. it would be prudent to specifically raise this ground in the appeal. Let the appellate court come to the conclusion that the accused was a juvenile on the date of the alleged offence. The conviction recorded by the Trial Court would not sustain if appellate court finds that accused was juvenile at the time of commission of alleged offence.
