The Supreme Court has suspended the sentence of a convict in a case involving offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and Section 376(2)(n) IPC, pending adjudication of his appeal before the Rajasthan High Court.
A Bench of Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar noted that the appellant had already undergone more than four and a half years of custody out of a 20-year sentence.
The Court emphasised that once a matter is transferred from the Juvenile Justice Board to the Children’s Court, compliance with Section 19(1) and (2) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 is mandatory. The Court relied on Ajit Gujjar v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (2023) 15 SCC 678 to reiterate that the use of the word “may” in Section 19(2) cannot be construed as directory.
The Court observed that no material had been placed on record to demonstrate that such statutory compliance had been undertaken. While leaving the issue open for consideration by the High Court at the stage of final hearing, the Bench found it appropriate to grant interim relief.
Accordingly, the Court suspended the sentence of the appellant during the pendency of the appeal, clarifying that the relief would be subject to the final outcome of the proceedings.
Appearances:
For Appellant(s) : Mr. Anurag Soan, AOR; Mr. Anurag Saxena, Adv.; Mr. Nishank, Adv.; Mr. Ritu Raj, Adv.; Ms. Kanika, Adv.
For Respondent(s) : Mr. Kartikeya Asthana, Adv.; Mr. Urvashi Raj, Adv.; Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR; Mr. Saurabh Rajpal, Adv.
