NEW DELHI, Dec 5: Juvenility plea cannot be applied lightly for accused specially in cases of heinous offences, a Delhi court has held, dismissing a youth’s application seeking to be declared a minor when the robbery-murder was allegedly committed by him.
No abuse of the “benevolent” legislation on juvenility can be permitted, Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau said while noting that the date of birth certificate of accused Rudermani “does not appear to be authentic” and relied on the medical tests which showed he was an adult.
The court said the entries made in his school records about his age are “more authentic and credible” which show he was 19 years and seven months old when the offence was committed in October 2011.
“None can be permitted to abuse the provisions of benevolent legislation and this plea of juvenility cannot be applied lightly by the courts of Law specially in those cases where the accused is being tried of heinous offences,” it said.
“I conclude that the date of birth certificate issued on September 21, 2013 does not appear to be authentic whereas on the other hand the entries made in the school record are more authentic and credible also finding due corroboration/ confirmation from the ossification report of applicant/accused Rudermani.
“I hereby hold that the date of birth of accused Rudermani is February 21, 1992 and hence on the date of incident i.E. On October 15, 2011, Rudermani was a major above 18 years i.E. 19 years, 7 months and 24 days old,” the judge said.
Rudermani is facing prosecution along with accused Rohit Kumar and Sunil for robbing and murdering one Harkesh Meena in October 2011 here.
According to the police, the three accused had robbed Meena’s mobile and some cash on knife point and fatally injured him. The incident took place near Adarsh Nagar Metro Station.
Rudermani, in his juvenility plea, claimed that as per his birth certificate, he was born on May 27, 1994 and was a minor when the alleged offence was committed.
The court had sought report from the IO in this regard and his ossification/age determination test was also conducted and the test showed that Rudermani’s estimated age was between 22 to 25 years.
The judge also placed reliance on a recent judgement of the apex court where also juvenility issue was raised by the accused who was charged with a heinous offence of raping a 13-year-old girl.
“In heinous crimes, it is the duty of courts to scrutinise plea of juvenility with extreme caution, to ensure that plea of minority is not employed to escape punishment.
“In this case the Supreme Court also noted that the method and manner of commission of offence indicated evil and matured skill of accused and therefore in the absence of reliable documentary evidence in support of age of accused, medical evidence which indicated that accused was major would be given primacy
“… He was thus not entitled to protection of Juvenile Justice Act because such statutory protection is available only to minors who are innocent law-breakers and not to accused persons of mature mind who use plea of minority to protect themselves from punishment,” the judge said while quoting the apex court judgement.
The investigating officer (IO) of the case had informed the court that Rudermani has also moved similar applications before other courts, where his other trials are pending, claiming benefit of juvenility.
In order to avoid conflicting opinion, as requested by the IO, the court gave him a copy of the order to place it before other courts and also sent a copy to the superintendent of Jail for information and record purposes. (PTI)
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