JODHBIR SINGHversusSTATE OF PUNJAB

                        (2012) 11 S.C.R. 230

A                         JODHBIR SINGH
                                   v.
                         STATE OF PUNJAB
                (Criminal Appeal No. 1971 of 2012)

                        DECEMBER 3, 2012
B
       [K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN AND DIPAK MISRA, JJ.]

        JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE AND PROTECTION OF
    CHILDREN) ACT, 2000:
c
        s. 7-A read with r.12 of 2007 Rules - Claim of juvenility-
  App/ication by appellant that on the date of commission of
  alleged offence he was a juvenile - Certificate issued by
   Government High School indicating the appellant as a
0 juvenile   on the date of offence - Court of Session holding the
  appellant not to be a juvenile - High Court dismissing
   appellant's revision - Held: In a case where genuineness of
   the school leaving certificate has not been questioned, Court
   of Session and High Court were not justified in placing
   reliance on certain statements made by mother of accused
E in cross-examination - Court of Session also committed an
   error in placing reliance on the certificate issued by the village
   Chowkidar - When Jaw gives prime importance to the date of
   birth certificate issued by the school first attended,
   genuineness of which is not disputed, there is no question of
F placing reliance on the certificate issued by the village
   Chowkidar - The appellant was a juvenile on the date of
   incident and has to be tried by the Juvenile Justice Board -
   Court of Session is directed to make over the files to the
   Juvenile Justice Board to proceed with the trial, so far as the
G appellant is concerned.

        An FIR for offences punishable under the NDPS Act,
    1985 was registered against the appellant and another

H                                 230
       JODHBIR SINGH v. STATE OF PUNJAB                231


person on 26.09.2010, stating that they were                  A
apprehended the same day with 2 kg heroin. The
appellant filed an application before the Special Judge
claiming that he was a juvenile on the date of the alleged
offence. He produced a certificate issued by the
Government High School showing his date of birth as           B
20.07 .1996. The Special Judge inter a/ia held that the
mother of the applicant was not able to state the correct
age of the applicant; that the certificate issued by the
School and the record of the Chowkidar register were
contrary; and that the School Certificate seemed to be        c
maneuvered only to get the benefit of the Juvenile
Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000. The
High Court also rejected the revision of the appellant.

     In the instant appeal, in pursuance to the order dated
29.08.2012 passed by the Court, an affidavit was filed by     D
the Dy. Superintendent of Police, who examined the
genuineness of the Certificate dated 5.4.2006 issued by
the State Council for Research and Training, Punjab,
Chandigarh and the certificate dated 19.10.2000, issued
by the Gcvernment High School, both showing the date          E
of birth of the appellant as 20.07.1996. The Head Master,
Government High School also certified the genuineness
of the documents on the basis of the record.

    Allowing the appeal, the Court                            F
    HELD: 1.1. It is significant to notice that the
genuineness of the certificate dated 05.04.2006 issued by
the State Council of Education Research and Training
Punjab, Chandigarh and the certificate issued by G
Government High School and the admission and
withdrawal register of Government High School has not
been questioned. [Para 11] [237-G]

    1.2. In a case where genuineness of the school
                                                              H
    232      SUPREME COURT REPORTS               [2012] 11 S.C.R.


A leaving certificate has not been questioned, the Court of
  Session and the High Court were not justified in placing
  reliance on certain statements made by the mother of the
  accused in the cross-examination. The Court of Session
  also committed an error in placing reliance on the
B certificate issued by the village Chowkidar who was
  examined as RW2. When law gives prime importance to
  the date of birth certificate issued by the school first
  attended, the genuineness of which is not disputed, there
  is no question of placing reliance on the certificate issued
c by the village Chowkidar. [Para 13] [238-H; 239-A-B]
        Ashwani Kumar Saxena v. State of M.P. (2012) 9 SCC
    750 - relied on

       1.3. This Court, therefore, holds that the appellant
D was a juvenile on the date of the incident and has to be
  tried by the Juvenile Justice Board. The Court of Session
  is directed to make over the files to the Juvenile Justice
  Board to proceed with the trial, so far as the appellant is
  concerned. [para 14] [239-D-E]
E
                          Case Law Reference:
          (2012) 9 sec 150         relied on             para 7

      CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal
F No. 1971 of 2012.

        From the Judgment & Order dated 7.7.2011 of the High
    Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in Criminal
    Revision No. 1440 of 2011.

G         Siddharth Mittal, S.K. Sabharwal for the Appellant.

          Saurabh Ajay Gupta, Kuldip Singh for the Respondent.

          The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

H         K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN, J. 1. Leave granted.
        JODHBIR SINGH v. STATE OF PUNJAB                     233
            [K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN, J.]
     2. The appellant and one Sandeep Singh were                    A
apprehended by the SP/Anti Smuggling Squad on 26.09.2012
near Gurdwara Atari Sahib Sulthanwind, Amritsar while they
were waiting for a party to deliver the consignment of 2 kg
Heroin on their Motor Cycle No. PB-02-BC-1089. FIR No. 26
dated 26.09.2010 was registered by PS State Special                 B
Operation Cell under Sections 21, 25, 29, 61, 85 of the NDPS
Act. An application was filed by the appellant before the Judge,
Special Court, Amritsar for sending the case against him to the
Juvenile Justice Board for trial.

     3. The appellant stated before the Judge, Special Court,       C
Amritsar that he was a juvenile on the date of the incident since
he was born on 20.07.1996. A certificate dated 19.10.2010
issued by the Government High School,.Naushehra Cheema
(Tarn Taran) was also produced in support of his contention that
his date of birth was 20.07.1996. The application was opposed       D
by the State stating that during interrogation, he had stated he
was born in the year 1991 and as such he was not a juvenile
on the date of the incident. Further, reference was also made
to the certificate issued by the Chowkidar of the village which
showed that the date of birth of the appellant was 05.07 .1993.     E

    4. After hearing the counsel on either side at length and
perusing the records, the Sessions Court passed the following
order which reads as follows:

    "A perusal of the record has shown that as per the              F
    certificate Ex.A 1 passing of 5th Class, issued by the
    Education Department, Punjab shows the date of birth of
    the applicant-accused Jodhbir Singh to be 20.07.1996
    AW1 Parkash Kaur, mother of the applicant-accused has
    mentioned the date of birth of Jodhbir Singh to be              G
    20.07.1996. She has.stated that the age of Jodhbir Singh
    is 14 Yz. years. However, in her cross examination, the said
    witness Parkash Kaur had categorically mentioned the
    date of birth of Jodhbir Singh to be 20.07 .1996 has
    feigned for ignorance regarding the date of her marriage.       H
    234       SUPREME COURT REPORTS                  [2012] 11 S.C.R.


A         Regarding her elder son, she had stated that he was born
          on 15 Magh, but she could not tell year of birth of her eldest
          son Gursahib Singh. She has also not been able to tell the
          date of birth of Jodhbir Singh during the course of her
          cross examination though she had specifically told the date
B         during the course of her examination in chief. Even she
          could not tell after how many years of her marriage Jodhbir
          Singh was born. This shows that Parkash Kaur, mother of
          the applicant-accused Jodhbir Singh is not aware about
          the date of birth of her son as well as his age. RW2 Jagjit
c         Singh, Chokidar has stated that as per the record of his
          Chowkidar register, the date of birth of Jodhbir Singh was
          5.7.1993. Even here, in the document Ex.RW2/A there is
          cutting. All this shows that the document Ex.A 1 and the
          document Ex-.RW2/A are contrary to each other not
          showing the real date of birth of the accused. The record
D
          of the criminal case bearing FIR No.26 dated 26.09.2010
          shows that during the course of interrogation, the accused
          had not disclosed himself to be a minor or juvenile. Though
           his maternal uncle Dalbir Singh also informed regarding
          the complicity of the accused in the commission of the
E         offence under Sections 21, 25, 29 of the NDPS Act, but
           neither his maternal uncle nor his parents had told the
           police that applicant-accused Jodhbir Singh was minor at
          the time of commission of the offence. In the identification
           certificate of accused Jodhbir Singh, his age has been
F          mentioned as 19/20 years. In such like circumstances, the
           school certificate as well as the entry in the register of the
           chowkidar regarding date of birth of the applic~-accused
           Jodhbir Singh does not seem to be true and that the said
           record seems to be maneuvered only to get undue benefit
G          of the provision of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection
           of Children) Act, 2000."

      5. The appellant, aggrieved by the above order, filed
  Criminal Revision No. 1440 of 2011 before the High Court of
H Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh. The High Court concurred
        JODHBIR SINGH v. STATE OF PUNJAB                         235
            [K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN, J.]
 with the views expressed by the Sessions Court and heavily             A
 relied on the following circumstances to dismiss the revision
 petition on 07.07.2011.

     "{i) The mother of the petitioner Parkash Kaur while
     appearing as />.W1 has not been able to tell the date of
                                                                        8
     birth of the petitioner during the cross-examination. She
     was not even able to tell after how many years of her
     marriage the petitioner was born.

     {ii) The petitioner himself during the course of interrogation
     had not disclosed himself to be minor or juvenile.                 C

     {iii) His maternal uncle Dalbir Singh had also not supplied
     any information to the police regarding the age.

     {iv) In the identification certificate, the petitioner has given
     his age as 19/20 years."                                           0

     6. Aggrieved by the said order, this appeal has been
preferred.

      7. Mr. Siddharth Mittal, learned counsel appearing for the E
 appellant submitted that the Sessions Court has committed a
 grave error in not properly appreciating the scope of Section
 7A of the Juvenile Justice {Care and Protection of Children)
 Act, 2000 {for short 'the JJ Act') and Rule 12 of the Juvenile
Justice Rules, 2007 {for short 'the JJ Rules'). Learned counsel F
submitted that the courts have committed a grave error in
placing reliance on the certificate issued by the village
Chowkidar as against the certificate issued by the State
Council for Education Research and Training Punjab,
Chandigarh dated 05.04.2006 and the certificate dated
19.10.2000 issued by the Government High School, Naushehra G
Cheema {Tarn Taran). Learned counsel submitted that both the
abovementioned certificates indicate that the date of birth of
the appellant is 20.07.1996 and therefore on the date of the
incident i.e.26.09.2010, the appellant was a juvenile.
Considerable reliance was placed on judgment of this Court H
     236      SUPREME COURT REPORTS                [2012] 11 S.C.R.


A in Ashwani Kumar Saxena v. State of M.P. [(2012) 9 SCC 750]
  in support of his contention.

        8. Mr. Saurabh Ajay Gupta, learned counsel appearing for
  the respondent-State, submitted that there is no illegality in the
  order passed by the Sessions Court, which was confirmed by
8
  the High Court. Learned counsel submitted that since there is
  some conflict on the date of birth shown in the school register
  and that of the certificate issued by village Chowkidar, the
  Sessions Court and the High Court were justified in placing
   reliance on the certificate issued by village Chowkidar to reject
C the claim of juvenility.

         9. When the matter came up for hearing, we passed the
     order dated 29.08.2012 which reads as follows:

D          "Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner placed
           reliance on certificate issued by the State Council for
           Education Research and Training, Punjab, Chandigarh
           dated 5.4.2006, where it is stated that the date of birth of
           the petitioner is 20. 7.1996. A photo copy of the same has
           been made available to the Court as well as to the counsel
E
           appearing for the state Government.

           Learned counsel for the petitioner also placed reliance on
           a copy of certificate dated 19.10.2000 issued by the
           Government High School, Naushehra Cheema (Tarn Taran)
 F         which also shows date of birth of the petitioner as
           20.07 .1996 and reference was also made to the
           Admission and Withdrawal Register, Govt. High School,
           Naushera Cheema (Tarn Taran) issued by the Headmaster/
           Principal of the Govt. High School, Naushera Cheema
 G         (Tarn Taran).
           Under such circumstances, we are inclined to give a
           direction to the State to examine the genuineness of these
           documents and file an affidavit to that effect."
 H
        JODHBIR SINGH v. STATE OF PUNJAB                      237
            [K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN, J.]

     10. In pursuance of that order, an affidavit dated              A
14.11.2012 was filed by Dy. Superintendent of Police, State
Special Operation Cell, Amritsar, Punjab who examined the
genuineness of the certificates referred to in our order. Relevant
portion of the order reads as follows:
                                                                     B
     "3. That as per the directions, following documents
     furnished by the petitioner have been examined to
     ascertain their genuineness.

             {A)   A Certificate issued by the State Council of
                   Education Research and Training Punjab,           C
                   Chandigarh dated 05.04.2006.

             (8)   A Certificate issued by Govt. High School,
                   Naushera Cheema, Tarn Taran.
                                                                     D
             (C)   A copy of admission and withdrawal register
                   of Govt. High School Naushera Cheema.

    4. That, Sh. Manjinderjit Singh Head Master Govt. High
    School Nausherha Cheema, Tarn Taran has certified the
    genuineness of the documents on the basis of the record          E
    maintained in the school.

    5. That, the copy of the statement furnished by Sh.
    Manjinderjit Singh Head Master Govt. High School
    Nausherha Cheema, Tarn Taran to this effect is attached          F
    as Annexure R-1."

     11. We notice the genuineness of the certificate issued by
the State Council of Education Research and Training Punjab,
Chandigarh dated 05.04.2006 and the certificate issued by
Govt. High School Naushera Cheema, Tarn Taran and the                G
admission and withdrawal register of Govt. High School,
Naushera Cheema has not been questioned.

     12. In Ashwani Kumar Saxena case {supra), this Court has
expiained how "Age determination inquiry" has to be conducted        H
    238       SUPREME COURT REPORTS                 [2012) 11 S.C.R.


A under Section 7A of the JJ Act read with Rule 12 of the JJ Rules.
  Relevant portion of the same is extracted hereunder:

          "32. "Age determination inquiry" contemplated under
          Section 7A of the Act read with Rule 12 of the 2007 Rules
B         enables the court to seek evidence and in that process,
          the court can obtain the matriculation or equivalent
          certificates, if available. Only in the absence of any
          matriculation or equivalent certificates, the court. needs to
          obtain the date of birth certificate from the school first
          attended other than a play school. Only in the absence of
c         matriculation or equivalent certificate or the date of birth
          certificate from the school first attended, the court needs
          to obtain the birth certificate given by a corporation or a
          municipal authority or a panchayat (not an affidavit but
          certificates or documents). The question of obtaining
D         medical opinion from a duly constituted Medical Board
          arises only if the above mentioned documents are
          unavailable. In case exact assessment of the age cannot
          be done, then the court, for reasons to be recorded, may
          if considered necessary, give the benefit to the child or
E         juvenile by considering his or her age on lower side within
          the margin of one year.

          33. Once the court, following the abovementioned
          procedures, passes an order, that order shall be the
F         conclusive proof of the age as regards such child or
          juvenile in conflict with law. It has been made clear in sub-
          rule (5) of Rule 12 that no further inquiry shall be conducted
          by the court or the Board after examining and obtaining
          the certificate or any other documentary proof after referring
          to sub-rule (3) of Rule 12. Further, Section 49 of the JJ Act
G
          also draws a presumption of the age of the juvenility on
          its determination."

       13. We are of the view that in a case where genuineness
  of the school leaving certificate has not been questioned, the ·
H Sessions Court and the High Court were not justified in placing
        JODHBIR SINGH v. STATE OF PUNJAB                      239
            [K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN, J.]
reliance on certain statements made by Parkash Kaur, mother          A
of the accused in the cross-examination. The Sessions Court
also committed an error in placing reliance on the certificate
issued by the village Chowkidar who was examined as RW2.
When the law gives prime importance to the date of birth
certificate issued by the school first attended, the genuineness     B
of which is not disputed, there is no question of placing reliance
on the certificate issued by the village Chowkidar.

       14. We may indicate that all these legal aspects has
 already been dealt with in Ashwani Kumar Saxena case
 (supra), hence, further elucidation of the question raised does     C
 not arise. The issue raised, in our view, is fully covered by the
abovementioned judgment. In such circumstances, we are
 inclined to allow this appeal and set aside the order passed
by the Sessions Court dated 16.04.2011 and the impugned
judgment and order dated 07.07.2011in Criminal Revision No.          D
1440 of 2011. We hold that the appellant was a juvenile on the
date of the incident and has to be tried by the Juvenile Justice
Board. The Sessions Court is directed to make over the files
to the Juvenile Justice Board to proceed with the trial, so far
as the appellant is concerned.                                       E

R.P.                                           Appeal allowed.