Sonal Bhargava | Edited by Prabhat BandhulyaCase Title: MINOR MOHIT SHANKARBHAAI VAGHELA THROUGH TEJAL SHANKARBHAI VAGHELA v/s STATE OF GUJARAT
The Gujarat High Court has granted bail to a 16 years old boy, accused of forcibly committing unnatural sex (sodomy) with a minor boy, aged about 13 years. Section 12 of Juvenile Justice Act states that when a child is apprehended for allegedly committing any offence, he/she shall be released on bail with or without surety or placed under the supervision of a probation officer or under the care of any person. The court granted bail to the minor keeping in view Section 12 of the Act.
Justice Samir Dave granted the accused bail, but he was barred from approaching the society where the claimed victim lives. In doing so, the Bench allowed the criminal revision application filed under Section 102 of the JJ Act to quash the order passed by the Sessions Court and the JJ Board, refusing bail.
The Applicant, who is 16 years and 8 months old, is accused of forcibly taking Complainant's underage son, who is 13 years old, to a terrace and engaging in sodomy. He also allegedly threatened to kill the victim if the incident was revealed to anybody.
As a result, a FIR was filed under Sections 377, 323, 506(1) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as Sections 3(A), 4 and 18 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, 2012, and the Applicant was arrested and placed to a Child Observation Home in April 2022.
The Applicant claimed that he was a juvenile who had been wrongfully charged of the current offence. He also lived with his widowed mother and planned to start school the following academic year. Because he had no criminal history, he argued that the application should be granted.
The APP objected to the Applicant's claims and requested that the application be dismissed.
The High Court found it appropriate to grant the application, based on the parties' arguments and the accused's age, and ordered his release on normal bail with conditions.