Delhi:
The Delhi High Court has set free a man who spent nearly 14 years in jail for a murder he committed as a minor -- when it carried a maximum jail term of three years for juvenile offenders.
Satpal was declared a free man after he was acquitted of all charges. Judges B.D. Ahmed and Manmohan Singh pulled up the police, lawyers and the trial court for not pursuing the case under the Juvenile Justice Act.
The court heard an appeal filed by Satpal challenging the trial court's order sentencing him to life imprisonment in 1997. He killed Kamla Kakkar, wife of a lawyer, in south Delhi in 1990.
Pulling up the trial court for not considering the age of Satpal, who was a minor when the crime took place, Ahmed and Manmohan Singh said: "The convict was a juvenile ... but (was) not treated as such and (he) suffered incarceration far in excess of the maximum period permitted under the said act (Juvenile Justice).
"We feel that trial courts should be vigilant whenever a claim of juvenility is made before them," the judges said in their order last week.
The observation came when the court appointed lawyer (amicus curaie) Ajay Verma informed the court that the convict was aged 15-16 years when he killed the lawyer's wife.
Satpal was declared a free man after he was acquitted of all charges. Judges B.D. Ahmed and Manmohan Singh pulled up the police, lawyers and the trial court for not pursuing the case under the Juvenile Justice Act.
The court heard an appeal filed by Satpal challenging the trial court's order sentencing him to life imprisonment in 1997. He killed Kamla Kakkar, wife of a lawyer, in south Delhi in 1990.
Pulling up the trial court for not considering the age of Satpal, who was a minor when the crime took place, Ahmed and Manmohan Singh said: "The convict was a juvenile ... but (was) not treated as such and (he) suffered incarceration far in excess of the maximum period permitted under the said act (Juvenile Justice).
"We feel that trial courts should be vigilant whenever a claim of juvenility is made before them," the judges said in their order last week.
The observation came when the court appointed lawyer (amicus curaie) Ajay Verma informed the court that the convict was aged 15-16 years when he killed the lawyer's wife.
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