GURBACHAN SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) GURBACHAN Singh petitioner murdered Tripta Devi on November 9, 1978. He was tried and convicted under section 449/302., Indian Penal Code by Sessions Judge, Amritsar vide order dated April 28, 1979. The petitioner gave his age as 15 years during the trial before the Sessions Judge. His plea during trial that he was below 16 years of age at the time of the commission of the crime was upheld. The learned Sessions Judge observed that here is nothing to doubt the age of the accused as given by him. A reference was made for the orders of the State Government in terms of section 34(1) of the East Punjab Children Act, 1949. The State Government vide notification dated May 22, 1979, (P2) directed that the petitioner shall be detained in Jail separate from adult prisoners and hardened criminals till he attained the age of 21 years and shall be released there after. In the authorisation letter written by the Sessions Judge, Amritsar, to the Superintendent Jail, dated April 28, 1979, (R.I) the age of the petitioner was given as 15 years. The petitioner approached the jail authorities for release claiming that he had attained the age of 21 years on July 24, 1984, inasmuch as his date of birth as recorded in G.H.S. School, Verka, Amritsar, where he had studied was July 24, 1963. Having failed to secure release from the Jail Authorities the petitioner has filed the present petition under Article 226/227 of the Constitution for issuing of a writ in the nature of habeas corpus on the ground that his detention after July 24, 1984, is illegal.

(2.) THE learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that the date of birth of the petitioner is July 24, 1963, as recorded in G.H.S. School, Verka, Amritsar. The petitioner completed 21 years of age on July 24, 1984, and as such his detention in Jail after that date is illegal being violative of the detention order issued by the State Government dated May 22, 1979, (P2). The contention is without merit.

(3.) IT is a matter of common knowledge that parents usually do not give the correct date of birth while admitting their wards in school for obvious reasons. No reliance can be placed on the entry in the school register wherein the date of birth of the petitioner is given as 24 July, 1963. The claim of the petitioner that he attained the age of 21 years on July 24, 1984, cannot be upheld.