New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed a convict to walk free as it accepted a report concluding that he was a minor when he raped and murdered a 10-year-old girl in 2013 in UP's Faizabad.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar said as the court has accepted the report given by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), it accepts the prayer made by the counsel for the appellant. “the conviction of the appellant, X, is upheld but the sentence imposed on him, treating him as an adult as on the date of the occurrence/commission of the offence, is treated as cancelled/waived”, said the bench.
“The appellant, X, is directed to be released in accordance with law, if not warranted to be detained in any other matter. The appeals are allowed and disposed of in the above terms. Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of”, said the bench, in its order. The Allahabad High Court had sentenced the convict to life imprisonment.
The apex court said it has gone through the report submitted by the JJB, Faizabad/Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, after conducting a detailed enquiry as to the age of the appellant, X (identity has been suppressed), and opining that, as per the records, he was born on July 5, 1995. The bench said accordingly, he would have been less than 18 years of age on the date of the occurrence/commission of offence, i.e., January 29, 2013.
“We may note that the counsel for the State of Uttar Pradesh does not contest the report given by the JJB. We have also examined the said report and the reasons given therein and do not find any good ground and reason to take a different view. The appellant, X, is accordingly directed to be treated as a juvenile on the date of the occurrence/commission of offence”, said the top court.
The counsel appearing for the appellant submitted that appellant, X, is not pressing the appeal on merits in the light of his claim of juvenility being accepted and, accordingly, his conviction for the offence(s) punishable under Sections 376 and 302 of the Indian Penal Code, may be confirmed.
A trial court had awarded him the death penalty in the case on May 17, 2018. The case was then referred to the High Court for confirmation of capital punishment as mandated under the code of criminal procedure. The Lucknow bench of the High Court commuted the death penalty to life imprisonment without the reprieve of remission.
On January 29, 2013, the victim failed to return home from school and her body was discovered later in the evening in a sugarcane field, with a scarf wrapped around her neck. An FIR was lodged by her uncle and investigations led to the appellant's arrest.
