SC notice to UP govt on plea by 13 convicts in Agra jail despite declared as juvenile

Plea in Supreme Court seeks immediate release of 13 convicts declared juvenile

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on a petition highlighting "unfortunate" and "sorry state of affairs" as 13 convicts have been languishing in Agra's jail despite having been declared juvenile at the time of the offence.

A bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and V Ramasubramanian sought a response from the state government on the plea which also sought immediate release as the convicts had suffered incarceration ranging from 14 to 22 years.

Advocate Rishi Malhotra, arguing on behalf of the convicts, contended despite clear and unchallenged rulings from the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) that they were all below the age limit of 18 years, yet no steps have been taken to release them forthwith.

The top court put the matter for consideration on July 8.

According to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) (Amendment) Act, 2006, the plea of juvenility can be raised at any stage and even after the final disposal of the case.

In their case, the JJB, through its orders between February 2017 to March 2021, categorically held that all these petitioners were below 18 years of age on the date of the alleged incident and were thus, declared juvenile, the petition claimed.

However, in the instant case, the petitioners languished in jails amongst hardcore criminals thereby completely negating the purpose and objects of the JJ Act, the petition contended.

They asked the court to pass necessary orders for releasing them forthwith within the spirit of Article 21 (right to life and liberty) of the Constitution.

Though in a majority of the cases their statutory criminal appeal is pending before the High Court against their conviction under various IPC offences, "the necessity and the need of hour is to immediate direct release of these petitioners in view of the fact that not only they are declared juvenile but they have already undergone a maximum period of detention provided under the JJ Act, 2000, i e, three years," their plea stated.

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