Madras High Court Orders Release of Life Convict Found to Be Juvenile in 1996 Case

The Madras High Court has ordered the immediate release of a life convict who spent nearly 25 years in prison for the rape and murder of a minor girl, after establishing that he was a juvenile at the time the offence was committed in 1996.

A division bench comprising Justices Anita Sumanth and Sunder Mohan issued the order on Monday while allowing a writ petition filed by A Suresh, a resident of Deveganapalli in Krishnagiri district, on behalf of his cousin, the convict A Gangatharan.

Gangatharan, now 46 years old, had been incarcerated since 2000, when a trial court convicted him and awarded a life sentence for raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl with an aruval in 1996. Although the High Court dismissed his appeal against the conviction in 2007, his cousin later filed a fresh petition seeking his release on grounds of juvenility.

Following directions from the High Court, the Juvenile Justice Board in Krishnagiri conducted an inquiry and confirmed that Gangatharan was 16 years, 5 months, and 2 days old on October 7, 1996, the date of the crime.

The bench concurred with the arguments presented by petitioner counsel P Pugalenthi, noting that settled law allows a plea of juvenility to be raised at any stage of proceedings, even after a conviction and sentence have attained finality.

The court observed that while the Juvenile Justice Act of 1986 considered boys below 16 years as juveniles, Section 2(k) of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, expanded the definition of a juvenile or child to any person who has not completed 18 years of age. Citing Sections 2(1) and 20 of the 2000 Act, the judges noted that the determination of juvenility applies to all pending cases, trials, revisions, appeals, or other criminal proceedings involving a juvenile in conflict with the law.

Pointing out that Gangatharan had already remained in custody for nearly a quarter of a century and could not have been legally confined for more than three years as a juvenile, the bench directed authorities to release him forthwith.