Allahabad High Court Grants Bail To Juvenile U/S 12 JJ Act, Says Nature Of Offence Not A Relevant Ground For Rejection

A bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Pachori of Allahabad High Court granted bail under section 12 of JJ Act (Juvenile Justice Act,2015) to a person, who was at the time of incident juvenile and accused of heinous offence. The court observed that the Appellate Court and JJ Board (Juvenile Justice Board) have failed to properly appreciate the mandatory provision of section 12 of JJ Act.

The bail application of the accused person charged under Sections 302,201,34 of Indian Penal Code (I.P.C) was rejected by the JJ Board on the ground of gravity of the offence and the reason that there appears a reasonable ground for believing that the guardian of the juvenile has no effective control over the accused person and there is a possibility of re-occurrence of the offence after his release.

The Criminal Revision was filed in the High Court through the father of the minor, who submitted that accused person.X has been falsely implicated and the case is based on circumstantial evidence.Also, the FIR was lodged on the basis of suspicion and hearsay.

The counsel on behalf of the State argued that the accused has committed a heinous crime and considering the gravity of the offence, the criminal revision should be rejected.

After considering the submissions made by both the parties The High Court observed that It is a settled position of law that the use of the word 'shall' in sub-section (1) of Section 12 of "JJ Act, 2015" is of great significance and ordinarily, the JJB is under obligation to release the juvenile on bail.

Further, the Court explained that from a bare reading of the provisions of Section 12 of "JJ Act", it appears that the intention of the legislature is to grant bail to the juvenile irrespective of the nature or gravity of the offence alleged to have been committed by him and bail can be declined only in such cases where there are reasonable grounds to believe that the release is likely to bring the juvenile into association of any known criminal or expose him to moral, physical, or psychological danger, or that his release would defeat the ends of justice. The gravity of the offence is not a relevant consideration for declining the bail to the juvenile.

Case Title- X (Minor) v. State of U.P. and Another

Criminal Revision No. - 3194 of 2022

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