MOHAN MALI & ANR. versus STATE OF M.P.

Citation: [2010] 5 S.C.R. 373 · Decided: 28-04-2010 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: ALTAMAS KABIR · Disposal: Disposed off
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Judgment (excerpt)

[2010] 5 S.C.R. 373 
MOHAN MALI & ANR. 
v. 
STATE OF M.P. 
(Criminal M.P. No. 6426 of 2010) 
in 
(Criminal Appeal No. 1305 of 2009) 
APRIL 28, 2010 
[ALTAMAS KABIR AND CYRIAC JOSEPH, JJ.] 
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 
2000: 
A 
8 
c 
ss. 7-A, 15 and 64 rlw r.98 - Juvenile tried along with 
adults, convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for life -
Claim regarding juvenility in appeal before Supreme Court 
D 
- HELD: Section 7-A allows a claim of juvenility to be raised 
before any court at any stage even after final disposal of the 
case and speaks of the procedure which the court is required 
to adopt when such claim of juvenility is raised - Upon due 
verification, it was confirmed on behalf of the State that E 
appellant No. 2 was a juvenile on the date of commission of· 
the offence - Therefore, he is entitled to the benefit of s. 7-A 
read with s. 64 of the Act- Rule 98 of the 2007 Rules squarely 
applies to the case of appellant no. 2 - Having regard to the 
fact that appellant no. 2 was a minor on the date of F 
commission of offence, and has already undergone more than 
the maximum sentence provided u/s 15 of the Act, by applying 
the provisions of r. 98 of the 2007 Rules read with ss. 15 and 
64 of the Act, the appeal as far as appellant no. 2 is 
concerned, is allowed and he is directed to be released 
G 
forthwith - Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) 
Rules, 2007 - r.98- Penal Code, 1860 - ss. 302134, 324134 
and 326134. [para 2, 5, 6, 8 and 9] 
373 
H 
374 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2010] 5 S.C.R. 
' 
A 
Hari Ram vs. State of Rajasthan & Anr. (2009) 13 SCC 
B 
211, relied on. 
Case Law Reference 
(2009) 13 sec 211 
relied on 
para 4 
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICT!ON: Criminal Appeal 
No. 6426 of 2010. 
IN 
C 
Criminal Appeal No. 1305 of 2009. 
D 
E 
From the Judgment & Order dated 11.5.2007 of the High 
Court of Madhya Pradesh at Indore in Criminal Appeal No. 898 
of 1997. 
S.K. Oubey, Rajesh, Dharm Singh and Yogesh Tiwari for 
the Petitioners. 
Pramod Swarup, Vikas Bansal, C.D. Singh, Sunny 
Chaudhary and Sukanya Hazarika for the Respondent. 
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
ORDER 
ALTAMAS KABIR, J. 1. This Appeal, which arises out of 
F 
Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No.6276 of 2007, is directed · 
against the judgment and order of the Indore Bench of the 
Madhya Pradesh High Court in Criminal Appeal No.89B of 
1997, challenging the judgment and order of conviction/passed 
by the Addi. Sessions Judge, Dhar, in Sessions Trial No.366 
G of 1994. By virtue of the said judgment, the Appellants, along 
with two other co-accused, were convicted under Sections 302/ 
34, 326/34 and 324/34 of Indian Penal Code and sentenced 
to life imprisonment along with fine of Rs.5,000/- for the offence 
under Section 302/34 IPC, three years' rigorous imprisonment 
H along with fine of Rs.500/- for the offence ur.der Section 326/ 
MOHAN MALI & ANR. v. STATE OF M.P. 
375 
[ALTAMAS KABIR, J.] 
34 IPC and one year's rigorous imprisonment along with fine 
A 
of Rs.500/- for the offence under Section 324/34 IPC along with 
further sentence in default of payment of fine. It may be 
mentioned that the Special Leave Petition filed by one of the 
other co-accused, Bhagwan, being S.L.P.(Crl.) No.540 of 
2008, was rejected on 16th April, 2008, when notice was issued 
B 
on S.L.P.(Crl.) No.6276 of 2007. 
2. On 17th July, 2009, when the Special Leave Petition 
came up for admission, leave was granted and the hearing of 
the appeal was expedited. However, the Appellants' prayer for 
C 
bail was rejected at that stage. When the matter was being 
heard for grant of leave, a plea of juvenility was made on behalf 
of Appellant No.2, Dhanna Lal, and this Court observed that in 
the event Dhanna Lal was able to provide proof of his claim 
that he was a juvenile on the date of the incident, he would be 
at liberty to apply afresh for grant of bail with such supporting 
D 
evidence. Pursuant thereto, a fresh bail application was filed 
on behalf of Dhanna Lal on 27th January, 2010, annexing a / 
copy of the Birth Certificate of Dhanna Lal issued by the Chief 
Registrar (Birth and Death), Municipal Corporation, Dhar, under 
Section 12 of the Birth and Death Registration Act, 1969, 
E 
maintained by the Corporation. From the said certificate it 
appears that Dhanna Lal's date of birth was recorded as 12th 
November, 1976 and was registered on 17th November, 1976, 
making it a document which was co
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