- 1 - IN IN IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CRIMINAL CRIMINAL CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION APPELLATE JURISDICTION APPELLATE JURISDICTION CRIMINAL CRIMINAL CRIMINAL REVISION REVISION REVISION APPLICATION NO.225 OF 2009 APPLICATION NO.225 OF 2009 APPLICATION NO.225 OF 2009 Nagnath Sidharam Jadhav ...Applicant vs. The State of Maharashtra ...Respondent Mr.Jaydeep Mane for the applicant Ms A.T.Javeri A.P.P. for State CORAM: CORAM: CORAM: A.S.OKA,J. A.S.OKA,J. A.S.OKA,J. DATE DATE DATE : MAY 5,2009 : MAY 5,2009 : MAY 5,2009 P.C.: P.C.: P.C.: 1. On the last date, the parties were put to notice that the revision application will be hard finally. 2. The applicant is a minor whose date of birth is 29th January 1992. He is charged with commission of offences under section 302,307,323, 504, 147, 148, 149 r/w 34 of the Indian Penal Code and section 135 of the Bombay Police Act,1951. This revision application is filed by him through his father. 3. The applicant is a juvenile. He was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board. By order dated 18th February 2009, application made by the applicant for bail was rejected. An appeal was preferred under section 50 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act,2000 (hereinafter referred to as the said Act). The Appeal has been dismissed by the Sessions Court. The submission of the learned counsel for the applicant is that there was no reason to deny bail to - 2 - the applicant. His submission is that there is no basis for apprehension that on his release the applicant will be brought into association with any known criminal or will expose him to moral, physical or psychological danger or that his release would defeat the end of justice. He submitted that even the order of the Sessions Court notes that the appeal was preferred through the father of the applicant and in the memorandum of appeal it was stated that the father was ready to give undertaking of taking proper care of the applicant-juvenile. He pointed out that in March 2009 he was permitted by the S.S.C. board to appear for the S.S.C. examination. He, therefore, submitted that there was no reason to deny bail to the applicant. 4. The learned A.P.P opposed the application by pointing out that the courts below were justified in declining the prayer for bail, as there was a reasonable ground for believing that after his release he was likely to come into association with known criminal or was likely to be exposed into moral, physical or psychological danger. The learned A.P.P. submitted that no interference is called for considering the seriousness of the offence alleged against the applicant. The learned A.P.P. pointed out that the applicant and other accused were armed with dangerous weapons like sword etc. The learned A.P.P. lastly submitted that a report of the Probation Officer be called for before releasing the applicant - 3 - on bail. 5. I have given careful consideration to the submission. The applicant was arrested on 29th January 2009. As of today the applicant is a minor and his age is 17 years and 3 months. Charge sheet has been already filed. The learned A.P.P. on instructions of the concerned Officer stated that apart from this offence there are no criminal antecedents of the applicant. 6. Sub section 1 of section 12 of the said Act reads thus : 12(1) When any person accused of a bailable or non-bailable offence, and apparently a juvenile, is arrested or detained or appears or is brought before a Board, such person shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure,1973 (2 of 1974) or in any other law for the time being in force, be released on bail with or without surety [or placed under the supervision of a Probation Officer or under the care of any fit institution or fit person] but he shall not be so released if there appear reasonable grounds for believing that the release is likely to bring him into association with any known criminal or expose him to moral, physical or psychological danger or that his release would defeat the ends of justice. - 4 - On plain reading of sub section 1 of section 12 in normal course a juvenile is entitled to be released on bail or to be placed under the supervision of the Probation Officer or under the care of any fit institution or fit person. A relief can be denied to the juvenile only if there appears to be a reasonable ground for believing that his release is likely to bring him with any association with the known criminal or expose him to moral physical or psychological danger or his release would defeat the end of justice. 7. There is no material placed on record to show that any other member of the family of the applicant or his close relative has any criminal background or antecedents. It is not the case of the prosecution that the applicant is residing in such a locality where the applicant is likely to be exposed to moral, physical or psychological danger. As stated earlier, there are no criminal antecedents of the applicant. The present revision application has been filed by the father of the juvenile. The order of the Sessions court notes that the father of the juvenile i.e. the applicant in revision application has offered to give an undertaking to take proper care of the juvenile. The juvenile can be enlarged on bail with a direction to the Probation Officer to supervise. He will be under the care of his father. - 5 - 8. Considering the aforesaid discussion, I pass the following order : i) Impugned orders are quashed and set aside. ii) The juvenile Yogiraj @ Rubiraj Nagnath Jadhav shall be enlarged on bail in connection with the Crime No.6 of 2009 registered with Salghar Vasti Police Station, Solapur, he shall be enlarged on bail of Rs.15,000/- with one or two sureties in the like amount. The order granting bail will be given effect only after the present applicant Nagnath Sidharam Jadhav files undertaking before the Sessions Court that till juvenile attains majority, he will look after and take care of the juvenile and will ensure that he is not exposed to moral physical or psychological danger. iii) On being enlarged on bail, the juvenile will be under the care of his father Nagnath and he will be under the supervision of the Probation Officer, Solapur. The Probation Officer will periodically visit the place the residence of the juvenile and will submit a report about the activities of the juvenile to the trial court once in every two months. iv) Revision application is allowed accordingly. - 6 - JUDGE JUDGE JUDGE