Criminal Misc. No. M-19175 of 2011 [1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Criminal Misc. No. M-19175 of 2011 (O&M) Date of decision: 27.7.2011 Rajwant Kaur @ Rajji .. Petitioner v. State of Punjab .. Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH BINDAL Present: Ms. Pooja Chopra, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. K. S. Pannu, Deputy Advocate General, Punjab. ... Rajesh Bindal J. Prayer in the present petition is for grant of pre-arrest bail to the petitioner on the ground that her date of birth is 5.5.1995 and she was juvenile on the date of commission of alleged offence. The submission is that she has been falsely implicated in the case. Mother and brother of Rajwant Kaur have already been arrested in a complaint made by the neighbourer with the allegations that Rajwant Kaur along with family members and other neighbourers had put her on fire. There was no reason for any fight and as to why the neighbourers will put the deceased on fire. It was further submitted that in terms of Section 12 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (for short, `the Act'), the learned court below should have enquired into the age of the petitioner and granted her the benefits available under the Act, but the court below left that issue open and declined the prayer made by her. Learned counsel for the State submitted that besides the FIR, there is dying declaration of the deceased recorded by the Duty Magistrate before her death, where she named all the persons as mentioned in the FIR. He further submitted that the certificate produced by the petitioner regarding her date of birth has been verified and found to be correct. Criminal Misc. No. M-19175 of 2011 [2] Apparently, taking the date of birth as provided for in the certificate produced by Rajwant Kaur to be correct and considering that beneficial provisions have been incorporated under the Act, but still there are other factors which are required to be considered for grant of bail to a juvenile, till such time those factors are considered by the Juvenile Justice Board, I do not deem it appropriate to put the petitioner into custody. Accordingly, it is directed that in case of arrest, the petitioner shall be released on furnishing of bail bonds to the satisfaction of the Arresting/Investigating Officer. She shall appear before the Investigating Officer as and when called upon for further investigation. She shall also be bound by all the conditions as contained in Section 438(2) Cr.P.C. However, this order will be operative till such time the Juvenile Justice Board finally opines on the merits of the prayer for bail to Rajwant Kaur considering the factors as mentioned in Section 12 of the Act. The petition stands disposed of. (Rajesh Bindal) Judge 27.7.2011 mk