Juvenile's stay in special home needed for moral values: Court

Upholding the two-year sentence of a juvenile for stabbing a man, a Delhi court has said that the minor needs to be kept at a special home and away from vitiated atmosphere to impart good morals and psychological counselling.
Additional Sessions Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal said the order of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) was passed in the overall interest of the minor.
The court, however, diluted the murder charge and held him guilty of the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
"Considering the age of the juvenile and the atmosphere in which he committed offence and his tender age, it has been rightly observed by the JJB that he has to be kept away from the vitiated atmosphere so that good morals and psychological counselling could be imparted to him," the court said.

The court said the JJB has rightly observed that reformation and rehabilitation of the juvenile can be a long-drawn process through institutionalised inculcation of good moral values.
"It was ordered that it was not conducive for mental growth and development of the juvenile to send him back to the vitiated atmosphere in which he had committed the offence," it noted.

The juvenile, a resident of Turkman Gate here, was ordered to be kept at a special home at Majnu Ka Tila for two years by the JJB in November 2014. He was held guilty of murdering a man by stabbing him with knife.

The juvenile had challenged the JJB's order before the sessions court contending that it was a case of sudden quarrel of the minor with the victim which resulted in the juvenile allegedly inflicting injury to him in heat of the moment.
His counsel said the incident was neither planned nor intentional and the JJB erred in convicting him for murder.
The sessions court, however, said the juvenile was already carrying knife at the time of incident and he stabbed the victim on his chest causing deep injury leading to his death.
While modifying the provision of the IPC imposed on him, the court said only one stab blow was given by the juvenile which was quite deep and thereafter he ran away from the spot.