Gravity of alleged crime not ground to reject bail of juvenile accused: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court recently observed that the gravity of an alleged crime is not a ground under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act) to deny bail to a juvenile accused of committing a criminal offence [X-Juvenile v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Another]..Justice Manish Kumar Nigam made the observation while granting bail to a teenager accused of various offences, including being part of an unlawful assembly, kidnapping and murder. The accused teenager was 16 years old at the time of the incident. "Gravity of the offence has not been mentioned as a ground to reject the bail. It is not a relevant factor while considering to grant bail to the juvenile. It has been so held by this Court in Shiv Kumar alias Sadhu Vs. State of U.P. 2010 (68) ACC 616(LB). It has been consistently followed in subsequent decisions of this court," the Court observed in a June 3 order while granting the accused juvenile bail. .The Court noted that Section 12 of JJ Act details the circumstances under which bail may be refused to a juvenile offender. This provision lays down that bail should be ordinarily granted to a juvenile accused, regardless of what the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) or any other law says for adult offenders.The Court explained that the only contingencies in which bail may be refused to children in conflict with law (including juvenile persons), as per this provision, are (i) if the release of the juvenile accused is likely to bring him into association with any known criminal, or (ii) expose him to moral, physical or psychological danger, or (iii) if his release would defeat the ends of justice.Pertinently, it was pointed out that the gravity of the offence is not a ground under this Act to deny bail to a juvenile..The accused-juvenile before the High Court was one among six individuals who had been accused of being involved in the murder of a man.The proceedings against the juvenile was conducted under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.He was earlier denied bail by the Principal Magistrate presiding over a Juvenile Justice Board as well as a special court, prompting him to move to the High Court for relief. .The High Court eventually granted the accused juvenile bail after noting that he does not have a prior criminal history, that he does not appear prone to commit criminal activity and that he had remained confined in a child observation home for a long time."Even otherwise, there does not appear to exist any factor or circumstance mentioned in section 12 of the Act as may disentitle the applicant to grant of bail, at this stage," the Court added. .Notably, as a bail condition, the Court also ordered the juvenile to file an undertaking through his guardian, promising that he will not seek any adjournments during the trial against him.The Court warned that if the juvenile does not comply with this condition for bail, it would be treated as an abuse of his bail."In case of default of this condition, it shall be open for the trial Court to treat it as abuse of liberty of bail and pass orders in accordance with law," the Court ordered.The Court added that if the juvenile does not appear (in person or through his advocate) during the trial, the trial court can initiate proceedings against him under Section 229A (which provides for jail time if a person released on bail does not attend court) of the Indian Penal Code..Advocates Radhey Shyam Shukla and Vipul Shukla appeared for the accused juvenile..[Read Order]