HATIM KHAN Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard.

(2.) The petitioner is one of the accused person in Sessions Trial No. 233/92 which was pending before the 1st Additional Sessions Judge, East Cham- paran at Motihari. The case is under Section 302 I.P.C. The allegation is that on 8-10-91 the accused persons shot dead one Indeshwari Rai, the brother of the informant in Kesharia Bazar. The Trial was taken up. An application was filed on behalf of the petitioner that he was minor on the date of occurrence as evident from the documents filed by the petitioner and hence in view of the Juvenile Justice Act he could not be tried by the regular Court. According to the matriculation certificate the date of birth of the petitioner is 15th December, 1976 and so he was minor on the date of occurrence i.e. on 8-10-1991. The learned Additional Sessions Judge was not inclined to accept the matriculation certificate and rejected his prayer for separating his trial. The petitioner was sent to the Medical Board and he was found about IS years.

(3.) It has been held in Bhoop Ram v. Stale of U.P. reported in 1989 S.C.C. (Crl. ) 486 that the Court should normally accept the age of the accused person, unless it is shown that the entries in the certificate did not relate to the accused.