One of the accused in Kathua gang rape to be tried as adult: SC

THE TOP COURT ALSO HELD THAT MEDICAL OPINION REGARDING THE AGE OF AN ACCUSED CANNOT BE “BRUSHED ASIDE” IN THE ABSENCE OF STATUTORY PROOF

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that one of the accused in the sensational gang-rape and murder case of an eight-year-old nomadic girl in Kathua was not a juvenile at the time of the offence and now can be tried afresh as an adult.

The top court also held that medical opinion regarding the age of an accused cannot be “brushed aside” in the absence of statutory proof on the same issue.

“Medical opinion regarding age in absence of any other conclusive evidence should be considered to determine the age range of the accused...Whether medical evidence can be relied upon or not depends on the value of evidence,” a bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and J B Pardiwala said.

It set aside the orders of the Chief Judicial Magistrate at Kathua and the high court which had held that the accused Shubam Sangra was a juvenile and hence to be tried separately.

“We set aside the judgements of the CJM Kathua and the high court and hold that the accused was not a juvenile at the time of commission of offence,” Justice Pardiwala said while pronouncing the verdict.

The minor girl was kidnapped on January 10, 2018 and was raped in captivity in a small village temple after keeping her sedated for four days. She was later bludgeoned to death.

The top court, on February 7, 2020, had stayed the proceedings before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) against Sangra.

It had stayed the proceedings after the Jammu and Kashmir administration claimed that the Jammu and Kashmir High Court had erroneously affirmed the order of a trial court holding him as juvenile at the time of the offence in 2018..

Senior advocate P S Patwalia, appearing for the J-K administration, had said the high court had on October 11, 2019, wrongly affirmed the trial court order of March 27, 2018, without appreciating that the date of birth recorded in the municipal and school records are contradictory to each other.

He had said that despite the notice to the ‘minor’ accused issued by the apex court on January 6, 2020 on the administration’s appeal, the JJB has continued its proceedings against the accused, treating him as a juvenile.Patwalia had contended that the accused, then treated as juvenile, was one of the main conspirators of the entire incident and kidnapped, gang-raped and murdered the victim.