The Calcutta high court has ruled that a maximum 3-year imprisonment can be awarded to a juvenile offender irrespective of the crime.
Overturning the life sentence to Nishi Roy by a sessions court for murdering a child in 1994, a division bench of
Justices Alok Kumar Basu and Pranab Kumar Deb observed on Tuesday that courts should remember that juvenile delinquents cannot be sentenced to over 3 years' imprisonment as per the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000.
The bench ordered the immediate release of Roy who has already served 8 years.
Roy had appealed before the high court against the 1997 sessions court order, convicting him for killing a
3-year-old boy by pushing him into an abandoned well in a jungle at Pat Jhalda in Purulia district.
The division bench also directed the registrar (administration) of the High Court to send copies of the judgement to all juvenile courts, juvenile boards and police authorities.
Roy, then 15-year old, had lured Rajesh Goswami and 5-year old Mahima to the jungle promising to give them
plums and then pushed them into the well.
Hearing their cries, the children's parents came to their rescue. While Mahima survived, it was too late for Rajesh, who
had died by then.
Based on Mahima's statement, Roy was arrested and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment by the sessions
court.