The Supreme Court Today (Feb 24) refused bail to a minor with four criminal cases, calling him “incorrigible!” and stressed that juveniles cannot misuse the law to escape punishment. The Court ordered a speedy trial within four months.
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant bail to a minor, saying that he was a repeat offender and could not escape punishment just because of his age.
A bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan observed that the boy had four similar cases against him.
“He is incorrigible! Just incorrigible,”
-the Court said.
“Let him understand repercussions of his action. In the name of juvenile he cannot keep looting people. In fact, he should not have been treated as a juvenile. These are serious offences and every time they are getting away in the name of juveniles,”
-it further stated.
In this case, which involved extortion and criminal intimidation, the Rajasthan High Court had earlier denied him bail.
Interestingly, he is already out on bail in three other cases.
The Supreme Court acknowledged that the boy had been in custody for 1 year and 8 months. However, it noted that even if the juvenile court found him guilty, the maximum punishment he could get would be three years.
“We realize he is in custody since 1 year [and] 8 months. Ultimately if juvenile court holds him guilty, the maximum punishment that can be imposed is three years. However we are not persuaded to exercise our discretion in his favour,”
-the top court stated.
The court also noted that charges had been framed against him. It pointed out that although witnesses had been called, they had not appeared in the trial court.
“If witnesses are not turning up, then this has something to do with the right to petitioner to have a speedy trial. It is for the presiding officer of juvenile court to take care of this and see that prosecution produces the witnesses,”
-the Court said.
Since the Court decided not to grant bail, it ordered a fast-track trial for the minor.
“We grant four months to the trial court to complete the trial and if needed conduct it on day to day basis,”
-the Court directed.
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