S.N.H.ZAIDI,J. - (1.) BY means of the present petition filed under section 482 Cr.P.C., the petitioner has invoked inherent powers of this Court with the prayer that the order dated 5.10.2007 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge/Fast Track Court No.2, Gonda in Sessions Trial No. 289/1998 State vs. Aqeeq, whereby the accused opposite party no.2 was declared a juvenile and paragraph 54 of the judgment dated 20.8.2008 rendered in the said Sessions trial, whereby the juvenile accused has been forwarded to the Juvenile Justice Board for hearing on quantum of sentence and for passing the appropriate order for sentence, be quashed.
(2.) A resume of the factual matrix of the case is that the petitioner (complainant of the case) had lodged a report against opposite party no.2 for causing death of his brother Abdul Jabbar, (the father in law of opposite party no.2) by assaulting him with knife on 11.5.1998 . On the basis of the report a case under section 302 Cr.P.C. was registered as case Crime No. 110/1998 at P.S. Itiathok, District Gonda and the police submitted charge sheet after concluding the investigation. During the course of trial, the accused/opposite party no.2 moved application claiming himself to be a juvenile on the date of incident and also for referring his matter to the Juvenile Justice Board in accordance with the provisions of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, hereinafter referred to as the Act of 2000. The learned trial Court, after hearing the parties, by impugned order dated 5.10.2007, found that the date of birth of the accused was 1.2.1981 and he was aged 17 years 3 months and 10 days and as such a juvenile on the date of incident but refused to refer the matter to the Juvenile Justice Board with the observation that if after the trial and at the time of judgment it is found that the juvenile has committed any offence then his case shall be referred to the Juvenile Justice Board.
(3.) THE trial of the juvenile accused was accordingly held and after concluding the trial, the learned trial Court, by judgment and order dated 20.8.2008, found the accused guilty of committing the offence but, vide impugned observation made in para 54 of the judgment, forwarded the juvenile accused to the Juvenile Justice Board for hearing on sentence and passing the appropriate order.;