DEEPAK KUMAR Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY the present petition, the Petitioner challenges the order dated 16th March, 2011 passed by the learned Addl. Sessions Judge declaring him not to be a juvenile on the date of alleged incident and thus dismissing the application of the Petitioner seeking the benefit of juvenility according to Rule 12 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2007(in short ,,JJ Rules).

(2.) LEARNED counsel for the Petitioner contends that in view of the school certificate having been verified, the learned Trial Court ought to have relied the same in terms of Rule 12 of the J.J. Rules and should not have got the ossification test of the Petitioner conducted.

(3.) BY the impugned order, the learned Trial Court held that in view of the ossification test, the Petitioner was not a juvenile and hence dismissed the application. No doubt, the Petitioner has not produced the original MCD certificate. Moreover, from the verification it was found that the purported photocopy of the MCD certificate relied upon by the Petitioner was an incorrect document as no record was found in this regard. However, the moot question in the matter is whether the learned Trial Court conducted a proper enquiry to determine the age of the Petitioner or not. It may be noted that the learned Trial Court only called for a verification report from the school where the Petitioner studied. No enquiry in regard to this certificate was conducted. No statement of the concerned Principal or the investigating officer, who conducted the verification, was recorded to ascertain the truth. In a case like this where the MCD certificate was found to be incorrect, the learned Trial Court ought to have summoned and examined the Principal or the concerned officer of Shri Bhopal Singh Public Junior School to come to the conclusion whether the school leaving certificate submitted by the Petitioner can be relied upon or not. In terms of Rule 12 of the J.J. Rules, only after the school leaving certificate was found to be not genuine or could not be relied upon, the learned Addl. Sessions Judge could have adopted the procedure of getting the ossification test done.