Supreme Court: Sets Aside Order Which Declared One Accused As Juvenile; Directed To Prosecute Him As An Adult: Kathua Rape-Murder Case

The Supreme Court in the case The State of Jammu And Kashmir (Now U.T of Jammu And Kashmir) And Ors versus Shubam Sangra observed and has set aside the orders of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kathua and the Jammu and Kashmir High Court wherein, it is held that one of the accused in the Kathua rape-murder case was a juvenile.
In the present case, it has been directed by the Apex Court that the said accused Shubham Sangra should be tried as an adult.
The bench comprising of Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice JB Pardiwala observed and has allowed the appeal filed by the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, wherein challenging the orders of the CJM and the High Court.
The bench of Justice Pardiwala read out the operative portion of the order that, it is being held that the respondent accused was not a juvenile at the time of the commission of the offence and the respondent accused should be tried the way other co-accused were tried in accordance with the provision of law.
It has been stated by Justice Pardiwala that medical expert’s estimate regarding the age of the accused is not a statutory substitute for proof and is only an opinion, the bench while pronouncing the judgement.
The present case relates to the brutal gang-rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua village in 2019. Therefore, a Special Court at Pathankot had sentenced three men to life imprisonment in the case in June 2019. Thus, the Court also sentenced three police officers to 5 years imprisonment for causing destruction of evidence and the trial of Shubham Sangra was shifted to the Juvenile Justice Board. However, the accused Shubham Sangra was the nephew of main accused Sanji Ram, who being the caretaker of the temple where the offence took place. The Top Court has transferred the trial of the case from Kathua to Pathanktot in Punjab in view of the obstruction of justice by lawyers, who have protested against the police arresting the accused.