Neeraj @ Babloo v. State N.C.T. of Delhi

PRATIBHA RANI, J

S. RAVINDRA BHAT, J NOVEMBER 16, 2011 sd

* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI RESERVED ON: 20.10.2011 PRONOUNCED ON: 16.11.2011 + CRL.A. 968/2008, Crl. MA Nos. 14457/2009 & 14686/2010 NEERAJ @ BABLOO ..... Appellant Through: Mr. S.B. Dandapani, Advocate versus STATE N.C.T. OF DELHI ..... Respondent Through: Mr. M.N. Dudeja, APP for the State CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S. RAVINDRA BHAT HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE PRATIBHA RANI 1. Whether the Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? Yes 2. To be referred to Reporter or not? Yes 3. Whether the judgment should be Yes reported in the Digest? MS. JUSTICE PRATIBHA RANI % 1. The Appellant Neeraj @ Babloo has impugned the judgment dated 24th July, 2008 and order of sentence dated 28th July, 2008 whereby he was convicted for having committed the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC for murder of Smt. Bindu (wife of complainant Shri Shishir Tiwari) and their five year old son. He was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and pay a fine of ` 10,000/- and, in default to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of three months. 2. The co-accused Ashok was convicted under Section 411 IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years which he had already undergone at the time of judgment and was ordered to be released forthwith. He has not preferred any appeal challenging this order. 3. During the course of hearing, after the application seeking suspension of sentence imposed upon the Appellant was dismissed on 17th February, 2009, another Crl. Misc. Application No. 14457/2009 under Section 482 Cr. P.C. was filed by the Appellant praying for disposal of appeal under Juvenile Justice Act claiming that the Appellant was born on 9th August, 1988 and that on the date of occurrence of the alleged incident/offence i.e. on 22nd April, 2004, he was below 18 years of age and that he being a juvenile, the case was required to be disposed of under the Juvenile Justice Act. 4. An enquiry was ordered to be conducted on the issue of the Appellant being juvenile, as despite this plea not being taken during the trial, it was permissible for the Appellant to raise this plea in an appeal. Initially, the SHO of the concerned police station was directed to find out from the Registrar of Birth and Death or Village Panchayat as to what was his date of birth and also ascertain from the school authorities about the date of birth entered in the school record when the Appellant was got admitted in the school. 5. On receiving the report that the birth of the Appellant was not registered anywhere and there was a possibility of date of birth recorded in school records being inaccurate, the Registrar (Appeals) was directed to record the evidence pertaining to the year when the Appellant was born, with further directions to record the statement of his parents as well. The Superintendent, Tihar Jail was also directed to produce the Appellant before the Medical Board constituted at LNJP Hospital for conducting Ossification and Dental Test in order to determine his age. 6. The Verification Report recording the age of the Appellant was submitted by Inspector Manoj Pant, SHO, Preet Vihar to the effect that the Appellant was born in Village Biroli, P.S. Begpura, Itawa, U.P. but as per the statement made by Gram Pradhan Smt. Malti Devi, there was no record regarding his age in Gram Panchayat Biroli. However, as per the school certificate obtained from Head Master of Shri Krishna Bihari Bal Vidya Mandir, Mishri Tola, Itawa, U.P., the date of birth of the Appellant was recorded as 9th August, 1988. 7. During the enquiry conducted by Registrar (Appeals), the statement of Shri Santosh Kumar Dubey (father of the Appellant), AW-1 was recorded. He claimed the date of birth of his son to be 9th August, 1988 which he mentioned at the time of the admission of the Appellant, in school. He stated that the date of birth of the Appellant was not registered with the Municipality or Registrar (Birth and Death). AW-2 Shri Shashi Shekher, Head