IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CR. REV. No.1712 of 2009 1. Gajendra Singh son of Sri Nag Narain Singh 2. Anil Singh,son of Raghunath Singh 3. Baleshwar Singh son of Raj Narain Singh 4. Nagendra Singh son of Baijnath Singh All are resident of village Faijullahpur, P.S. Baikunthpur, district – Gopalganj. … Petitioners. Versus The State Of Bihar … Opp. Party. ----------- 2. 28.11.2011 The accused-petitioners have preferred this revision application against the order dated 1.9.2009 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, 3rd, Gopalganj in Sessions Trial No. 136 of 1985 by which the petition filed by the petitioners for transferring the case to the juvenile court on the ground of their juvenility has been rejected. Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and learned counsel for the State. It appears that the petitioners and others are co-accused in Baikunthpur P. S. Case No. 3 of 1983 under Section 302 and other sections of IPC and 27 of the Arms Act. The claim of juvenility has been raised at the time of considering the bail matter. Admittedly, the date of occurrence is 15.1.1983 and the claim of the petitioners is that on the date of 2 occurrence they were juvenile. The date of birth of petitioner no.1 is 9.2.1968, that of petitioner no. 2 is 15.10.1972, that of petitioner no. 3 is 29.12.1968 and that of petitioner no. 4 is 5.3.1970. All the petitioners were below 16 years at the time of occurrence. In support of their claim they have submitted certificate granted by their respective school. The claim of juvenility has been rejected by the learned trial court on the ground that the case is very old, charges have been framed on 30.7.1987 and the petition for claiming juvenility has been filed by the accused on 21.8.2009 only to delay the matter and at the relevant time the case of the petitioners does not come within the purview of Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 which came into existence on 3.12.1986. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that at the time of occurrence Bihar Children Act 1982 was in force and thereafter also under Juvenile Justice Act 1986 the definition of a juvenile was a boy and girl who has not attained the age of 16 or 18 years respectively. In due course, 1986 Act was 3 repealed and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000 came into force and this Act has been amended in the year 2006 under Juvenile Justice Act 2006. By amendment Section 7A has been enacted according to which the claim of juvenility can be raised at any stage of the proceeding. Admittedly, the trial of the petitioners is going on as such the claim of juvenility of the petitioners has been raised. In support of his contention he has relied upon a decision in the case of Akhilesh Ojha vs. State of Bihar, reported in 2008(1) PLJR 806. In this decision it has been held that right of juvenility can be claimed at any stage of proceeding including at the appellate stage. The effect of the Amendment Act being retrospective so as to cover even those juveniles who ceased to be so on or before the date of commencement of the Amendment Act which can be claimed at any stage, and the appellant being found to be a juvenile on the date of commission of the offence, sentence passed against him was set aside and the case was remanded to the Board constituted to deal with Juvenile under Act 2000 and pass appropriate order. 4 Learned counsel for the State could not controvert the contention of the petitioners. After hearing learned counsel for both the parties and on perusal of the material on record it appears that the contention of learned counsel for the petitioners is correct. The claim of juvenility has not been entertained by the learned trial court on the ground that the case is very old, charges have been framed on 30.7.1987 and the claim of juvenility has been raised at a belated stage. Considering the facts and circumstances, the impugned order is not fit to be sustained. It is set aside. It will be open to the petitioners to make a fresh petition under Section 7 A of the Juvenile Justice Act which will be decided in the view of the provisions of Section 7 A of the Juvenile Justice Act read with Section 12(3) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules 2007 by which the guidelines have been given to the Court or the Board, as the case may be, for deciding the claim of juvenility. The matter is remanded to the learned trial court for passing order in 5 accordance with law. In the result, this application is allowed. Kanchan (Amaresh Kumar Lal, J.)