Thirty-seven years after raping an 11-year-old girl, a 53-year-old man has been referred to the Juvenile Justice Board by the Supreme Court, which found he was a minor at the time of the 1988 incident. As per the Juvenile Justice Act, the Board can order his placement in a special home for three years.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih was hearing the man’s appeal challenging his conviction under Sections 342 (wrongful confinement) and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code. While a trial court had sentenced him to three years in prison, the Rajasthan High Court had upheld the conviction.

It was during the hearing before the Supreme Court that the convict, for the first time in the case, claimed to have been a juvenile when the crime occurred in Ajmer on November 17, 1988. The court accepted this claim after verification.

Despite upholding the findings of guilt—relying on the survivor’s testimony, witness statements, and corroborating medical evidence—the bench held that the sentence could not stand due to the convict’s juvenile status at the time of the offence.

While the Rajasthan government opposed granting the benefit of juvenility after such a long delay, the Supreme Court reiterated that the plea of juvenility can be raised at any stage, even after final disposal of the case. The bench stated, “Earlier judgments have categorically held that the plea of juvenility has to be recognised before any court at any stage.”

Accordingly, the Court set aside the sentence imposed by the trial and high courts, and referred the case to the Juvenile Justice Board for appropriate action in line with juvenile justice norms.