The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice on a petition filed by 13 convicts who were declared juveniles at the time of commission of the offences, and are currently lodged in Agra Central Jail. The petitioners said they are lodged in the jail for past 13 to 22 years and sought an immediate release as they had been lodged in “hardcore jails with hardcore criminals.” The Bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and V Ramasubramanian issued notice and listed the matter for July 8, 2021.
The plea filed through Advocate Rishi Malhotra stated that after a public interest litigation was filed in the Allahabad High Court in 2012, directions were issued to the Juvenile Justice Board to dispose of applications regarding juvenility of prisoners.
Pursuant to that, all 13 petitioners were declared juveniles at the time of commission of their respective offences.
Despite clear and unchallenged rulings from the Juvenile Justice Board declaring the petitioners as juveniles, no steps have been taken to release them, the plea said.