A special court dismissed an appeal filed by two children in protest of the law against a Juvenile Justice Board order directing them to be tried as adults for the alleged murder of the 59-year-old musician in 2019.
In January, the board had transferred their cases to a children’s court as per the amended Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015. According to the Act, if children 15-18 are suspected of having committed a heinous crime. Cases of people aged in contravention of the law may be transferred to a children’s court and may face prison terms. If continued to be prosecuted as minors, they face a maximum corrective period of three years in a particular household.
In the appeal filed on behalf of the minors, it was submitted that the Board was to make a preliminary assessment whether they had the physical and mental capacity to commit the offence, their ability to understand the consequences and the circumstances under which the offense was committed. allegedly committed. It was submitted that the mental health assessment was done only to see if they had any mental disorder.
It was also submitted that the minor girl, who was 17 years old at the time of the alleged incident, was being sexually assaulted by the deceased. It was also said that the 16-year-old boy also came to know about it but was afraid to approach the police as the man was a member of a political party. The court, however, relied on the chargesheet including prosecution witnesses and found that the girl kept on visiting the 59-year-old’s house. The court also said that the deceased’s ATM card, house keys, bank documents have also been found from the minors. “All these facts show that the offense of murder was committed with the intention of grabbing the property of the deceased,” the court said, showing that both had the mental capacity to judge the nature and consequences of their act. Police said the body parts of the 59-year-old man were found in a suitcase on Mahim beach.
The court also noted that the social inquiry report tells about their behavior in the observation home since 2019, but it does not negate the facts revealed in the chargesheet. The appeal of minors also rests on the Bombay High Court’s decision in another case where the court had held that the Act was curative and not retributive.
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