Sunder @ Surendra v. State of Uttar Pradesh -Plea Of Juvenility -1983 Murder Case
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015 - Section 9(2)- The plea of juvenility may be raised before any Court and it shall be recognized at any stage, even after the final disposal of the case - Whenever a claim of juvenility is raised, an inquiry has to be made, and such inquiry would take place by receiving evidence which would be necessary but not by an affidavit so as to determine the age of such person. (Para 12-13)
Case Info
Case name and neutral citationSunder @ Surendra v. State of Uttar PradeshNeutral citation: Not mentioned in the text provided (only the writ number is given: Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 514 of 2025).
Coram
- Justice Vikram Nath
- Justice Sandeep Mehta
Judgment/order date19 February 2026 (New Delhi)
Caselaws and citations referred
- Abuzar Hossain @ Gulam Hossain v. State of West Bengal, (2012) 10 SCC 489
- Pramila v. State of Chhattisgarh, 2024 INSC 50
- Rahul Kumar Yadav v. State of Bihar, 2024 SCC OnLine 723
- Vinod Katara v. State of Uttar Pradesh, (2023) 15 SCC 210
Statutes / laws referred
- Constitution of India, Article 32
- Indian Penal Code, 1860: Sections 302/34 and 307/34
- Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act), including proviso to Section 9(2)
Three‑sentence brief summaryThe petitioner, convicted in 1989 for offences under sections 302/34 and 307/34 IPC and whose appeal and SLP were dismissed, has now invoked Article 32 to raise for the first time a plea of juvenility based on school and birth records showing his date of birth as 1 February 1968, which would make him about 15 years old on the date of the offence (7 February 1983). Relying on precedents interpreting the JJ Act—especially the proviso to section 9(2) that allows a juvenility claim at any stage—the Supreme Court holds that such a claim must be inquired into and cannot be rejected merely because it is belated or raised after final disposal. The Court therefore directs the Sessions Judge, Meerut, to conduct a proper inquiry into the petitioner’s age under the JJ Act procedure, after giving all parties an opportunity to lead evidence, and to submit a report within three months.