ISHFAQ AHMAD NAJAR Vs. STATE OF J&K

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Sanjay Dhar, J 1. By this common order, petition filed by the petitioner under Sec. 561-A of J&K Cr. P. C and appeal filed by him against the judgment of conviction and sentence dtd. 28/4/2016 passed by learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Budgam, against the petitioner, are proposed to be disposed of.

(2.) It emerges from the record that a challan for commission of offence under Sec. 377 RPC came to be filed against the petitioner herein before learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Budgam. The challan owed its origin to FIR No.105/2009 of Police Station Chadoora. It appears that during the pendency of the trial, the petitioner had filed an application before the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate seeking a declaration that he is a juvenile. The said application was filed on 24/8/2009. The application came to be dismissed by the learned Magistrate vide his order dtd. 28/4/2016 on the ground that at the time of the occurrence i.e., 10/6/2009, the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 1997 (hereinafter referred to as the Act of 1997), were in operation and, as such, only a person who was below 16 years of age qualified to be a juvenile. The learned Magistrate observed that since petitioner was more than 16 years of age at the time of the occurrence, as such, he cannot be declared as juvenile and that he cannot take benefit of the definition of juvenile as given in Sec. 2(n) of the J&K Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2013 (hereinafter to as the Act of 2013).

(3.) The aforesaid order came to be challenged by the petitioner before the Revisional Court i.e., Court of Sessions Judge, Budgam. However, by the time the revision petition came up for consideration, the petitioner came to be convicted by the trial court in terms of the judgment dtd. 28/4/2016 and the learned Sessions Judge held that the revision petition has been rendered infructuous.