SANJEEV KUMAR GUPTA v. THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH INSC 741

Ms Jaiswal submitted that Section 94 deals with a matter of procedure. Hence, it was urged that though the incident in the present case is alleged to have taken place on 18 August 2015 and the application claiming the benefit of juvenility was submitted on 9 December 2015, the application should be governed by the provisions of Section 94 and not by Section 12 of the Rules of 2007. For the purpose of the present case, we have proceeded to analyse the facts on the basis of the provisions of Rule 12 of the Rules of 2007 . We have, as will be analysed hereafter, come to the conclusion that even on that basis, the second respondent was not a juvenile on the date of the incident. In other words, whether the case is approached from the stand point of Rule 12 of the Rules of 2007 or Section 94 of the 2015 Act does not ultimately make any difference to the conclusion. 14 Now it is in this background that it becomes necessary for the Court to determine whether the High Court, in the exercise of its revisional jurisdiction, was justified in reversing the view of the learned Sessions Judge that the second respondent was not a juvenile on the date of the incident. In seeking to place reliance on the date of birth recorded in the CBSE matriculation certificate, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the second respondent has submitted that under the provisions of Rule 12 the said certificate has precedence over any other evidentiary document. In the course of the hearing of the appeal, we directed the CBSE to produce its records and to file an affidavit indicating the basis on which the date of birth was recorded in the matriculation certificate. The affidavit filed by the CBSE indicates that the date of birth in the records maintained by the CBSE was recorded purely on the basis of the final list of students forwarded by Maa Anjani Senior Secondary School, Etah Road, Shikohabad.

For the above reasons, we allow the appeal and set aside the impugned judgment and order of the High Court dated 14 November 2018. Criminal Revision 2952 of 2017 shall in consequence stand dismissed. The order passed by the Sessions Judge, confirming the decision of the JJB rejecting the claim of juvenility is accordingly maintained. The second respondent shall accordingly be dealt with in accordance with law on the basis of the finding recorded in the present judgment, rejecting the claim of juvenility.