LexNAGOOR PICHAI @ BADUSHA versus STATE TR. SUB-INSPECTOR OF POLICE
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[2013] 10 S.C.R. 356 A NAGOOR PICHAI @ BADUSHA v. STATE TR. SUB-INSPECTOR OF POLICE Crl. M.P. No. 853 of 2013 IN B (Criminal Appeal No. 811 of 2011) SEPTEMBER 19, 2013 [T.S. THAKUR AND VIKRAMAJIT SEN, JJ.] C Tamil Nadu Borstal Schools Act, 1925 - ss. 2(1), 8 & 10 - Petitioner convicted uls.302 /PC for murder and sentenced to life imprisonment~ He was over 19 years of age on the date of incident, and 22 years 9 months old on the date of . conv[ction - Plea for detention of Petitioner in a Borstal ~choo/ o . - Held: Definition of 'adolescent offender' in s.2(1) of the Borstal Schools Act stipulates requirement of being not less than 16 years.but not more than 21 years of age on the date of conviction - Petitioner being over 21 years on the date of his conviction, it would not be advisable for him to be detained E in a Borstal School as he may detrimentally influence younger persons - The position would have been totally different had he, on the date of his conviction, been between ages of 16 and 21 years as then he would have been required to be placed in a Borstal School - Since Petitioner was over F 19 years on the date of the occurrence or the conviction, even in postulation of the Juvenile Justice Act, no relief available even retrospectively to the Petitioner - No impediment or legal impropriety in his having to undergo his sentence in an ordinary jail - Petitioner not entitled to bail - Juvenile Justice G (Care and Protect(on of Children) Act, 2000 - Penal Code, 1860 - s.302. Tamil Nadu Borstal Schools Act, 1925 - ss.2(1) & 8 - Definition of 'adolescent offender' - Distinction between 'adolescent' and Juvenile' - Discussed. H 356 NAGOOR PICHAI @ BADUSHA v. STATE TR. SUB- 357 INSPECTOR OF POLICE Tamil Nadu Borstal Schools Act, 1925 - Borstal School A - Held: Is a halfway house intended to prepare a person for imprisonment in a regular/ordinary jail. Tamil Nadu Borstal Schools Act, 1925 - Provisions of - Difference from provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act - Held: 8 The Borstal Schools Act merely concerns detention of a convict, whereas the Juvenile Justice Act deals with detention as also the punishment or sentence that can be imposed - Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000. The Petitioner was convicted under Section 302 IPC C for the murder of his paternal uncl~ and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was 19 years 8 months of age.on the date of incident, and 22 years 9 months old on the date of conviction. ' The only question agitated for the Petitioner before this Court was that the pr~visions of Tamil Nadu Borstal Schools Act, 1925 were ignored by the Courts below. It was contended that the Courts beJow erred in not directing the detention of the Petitioner in a Borstal School. Dismissing the bail application of the Petitioner, the·· Court D E HELD: 1.1. The Tamil Nadu Borstal Schools Act, 1925 F does not contemplate the term 'juvenile' at all. However, the definition of 'adolescent offender' is contained in Section 2(1) of the Act. By. virtue of the statutory definition of 'adolescent offender', on the date of the conviction he should have been not less than 16 years G but not more than 21 years of age. 'Adolescent' is seldom considered in any legal dictionary, whereas juvenile/ minor/c.hild is ubiquitously dealt with. The Borstal School is a halfway house intended to prepare a person for imprisonment in a regular/ordinary jail. Section 8 of the H 358 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2013] 10 S.C.R. A Borstal Schools Act stipulates that a convict cannot remain in a Borstal School beyond a period of five years or his attaining the age of 23 years. There is a distinction, as the relevant statutes ordain, between an 'adolescent' and a 'juvenile'. 'Juvenile' and its statutory synonym B 'child' (and now even 'minor') has been defined in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 simply as a person who has not completed eighteen years of age. The repealed Juvenile Justice Act treated any person below the age of sixteen years as a juvenile c and it is this age which is contemplated in the Borstal Schools Act. By virtue, therefore, of Section 8 of the Juvenile Justice Act, Special Homes have to be established for the 'reception and rehabilitation of a juvenile in conflict with law'. Again, it is this Act in terms 0 of Section 16, that places an embargo on the imposition of any sentenc
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