Deepali Kalia-
On 1st July, the Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Indira Banerjee following the submissions by Advocate Rishi Malhotra, who appeared on behalf of the petitioners, issued a notice in a plea which sought the release of 13 prisoners from Agra jail stating that they were juveniles at the time of the offense.
The order dated 24 May 2012 in which Allahabad High Court had directed the Juvenile Justice Board to inquire into the matter of age of the prisoners was referred by the plea and it was submitted that following the enquiry the Juvenile Justice Board had held that the prisoners had in fact been juveniles at the time of the incident.
Therefore, the plea submitted that despite the ruling of the Juvenile Justice Board, the State of Uttar Pradesh has not taken any measures and the petitioners have thus languished in prison for a period ranging from 14 to 22 years.
“Though in majority of the cases their statutory criminal appeal is pending before the High Court against their conviction under various IPC offences, but the necessity and the need of hour is to direct immediate release of these Petitioners in view of the fact that not only they are declared juvenile but they have already undergone a maximum period of detention provided under Section 15 read with Section 16 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 viz. 3 years.” The plea stated.
The plea stated that Article 21 of the Constitution of India guarantees the right to life and personal liberty and prayed to the Apex Court to grant immediate release of the petitioners in light of the Juvenile Justice Board’s order.
In addition to the plea, an application for interim bail was also filed by the petitioners.
As per the directions, the State of Uttar Pradesh will be served through the Standing Counsel.The matter will be heard again on 8th July.
