Dec 16 gang rape case: SC allows Juvenile Justice Board to deliver verdict on minor

The Supreme Court on Thursday, while admitting a plea seeking fresh interpretation of the term 'juvenile' in the statute on the basis of mental and intellectual maturity of minor offenders, gave permission to the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) to deliver its verdict against one of the accused in the December 16 gangrape-cum-murder case, who has claimed that he is a minor.

A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam agreed to hear former Member of Parliament Subramanian Swamy's plea seeking fresh interpretation of the term 'juvenile' but said the JJB can go ahead with pronouncing the verdict in the case.

The bench also issued notice to the Centre on Swamy's plea.

Earlier, the apex court had said that the JJB be informed not to pronounce its verdict involving the juvenile, who was one of six persons who had allegedly brutally gangraped a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus here, till it decides the PIL. The girl died in a Singapore hospital on December 29.

On August 19, the JJB, presided over by Principal Magistrate Geetanjali Goel, had postponed till August 31 the verdict for the fourth time since July 11 on the ground that a PIL had been filed in the Supreme Court.

The inquiry against the juvenile in the gangrape and robbery case had concluded on July 5. While the verdict in the gangrape-cum-murder case is yet to be pronounced, he has already been held guilty of robbing a carpenter who had boarded the bus the same night. The sentence, however, is yet to be awarded.