Crl. Rev. no. 2658 of 2010 (O&M) 1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Crl. Rev. no. 2658 of 2010 (O&M) Decided on : 26-08-2011 Sher Singh ....Petitioner VERSUS State of Punjab and others ....Respondents CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MAHESH GROVER Present:- Mr. S.P.S.Sidhu, Advocate for the petitioner Mr. B.B.S.Teji, Sr. DAG, Punjab Mr. N.S.Swaitch, Advocate for respondents no. 2 and 3 MAHESH GROVER, J The petitioner is aggrieved by the order dated 1.9.2010 vide which the respondents no.2 and 3 have been declared as Juveniles on the basis of their appearance. Section 49 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act is extracted hereunder:- 49. Presumption and determination of age.- (1) Where it appears to a competent authority that person brought before it under any of the provisions of this Act (otherwise than for the purpose of giving evidence) is a juvenile or the child, the competent authority shall make due inquiry so as to the age of that person and for that purpose shall take such evidence as may be necessary (but not an affidavit) and shall record a finding whether the person is a juvenile or the child or not, stating his age as nearly as may be. (2) No order of a competent authority shall be Crl. Rev. no. 2658 of 2010 (O&M) 2 deemed to have become invalid merely by any subsequent proof that the person in respect of whom the order has been made is not a juvenile or the child, and the age recorded by the competent authority to be the age of person so brought before it, shall for the purpose of this Act, be deemed to be the true age of that person.” It is evident from the bare perusal of the aforesaid section of the statute that appearance of a person brought before the Court to be a Juvenile is only a precursor to the subsequent inquiry which necessarily has to follow. The Court cannot formulate its opinion about the person being a Juvenile merely on the appearance. Appearance is only to be seen as a measure of satisfaction to the Court so as to look into further details to determine the said factum of the person being a Juvenile. A perusal of the impugned order shows that the Court has primarily proceeded on the presumption of the appearance and no further positive inquiry has been held in this regard. Consequently, I am of the considered opinion that the impugned order suffers from a grave infirmity. It is therefore set aside and the matter is remitted back to the learned Trial Court to re-determine the issue of respondents no.2 and 3 being Juveniles by complying with the provisions of Section 49 of the Act. Disposed of. August 26 , 2011 (Mahesh Grover) rekha Judge