‘Juvenile Justice Act Overrides All Other Laws in Matters Concerning Children’: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has held that the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, has an overriding effect on all other laws, including the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), in cases involving a child in conflict with law, emphasising that no waiver of their statutory rights is permissible.

Holding the continued detention of a youth in Naini Central Jail as illegal, court directed his immediate release after eight years of confinement.

The bench comprising Justices Salil Kumar Rai and Sandeep Jain ordered the release of Pawan Kumar, who has been in jail since 2017 in connection with a murder case registered at Tharwai police station in Allahabad. Court noted that Pawan was only 14 years and three months old at the time of the alleged offence and should have been treated as a juvenile under the JJ Act, 2015.

Court held, "Any person who has committed an offence when he was below the age of eighteen years shall be treated as a child during the process of inquiry even if he has completed eighteen years of age when he was apprehended or completes the age of eighteen years during the course of inquiry by the Board or the Children’s Court or any other agency". 

Pawan, along with his family members, was accused of killing his elder brother in April 2017. Although the trial court had been informed of his age and school records confirming his birth in December 2002, it merely forwarded the matter to the Juvenile Justice Board without determining his age. The Board subsequently declared him a juvenile on May 15, 2025, yet he continued to remain in jail.

Criticising the mechanical approach of the trial court, the High Court said that the age determination under Section 9(2) of the JJ Act must be done by the court itself, not by the Board, when the claim of juvenility is raised during trial. The order of the Board in such a case, the bench said, “is without jurisdiction and a nullity".

Court underscored that under Section 10 of the JJ Act, no child can be lodged in a police lock-up or jail. It explained that a child in conflict with law can only be placed in a “place of safety,” and only under limited circumstances after the Board and the Children’s Court decide to try the child as an adult and he attains 21 years of age.

“The present detention of petitioner no. 1 in Naini Central Jail, Prayagraj, is illegal,” the bench concluded, issuing an order for his release.

Court further directed the trial court to promptly determine his age and, if found to be a child at the time of offence, forward him to the Juvenile Justice Board for proceedings under Sections 14, 15 and 18 of the Act.

Case Title: Pawan Kumar (Corpus) And Another vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and 4 Others

Order Date: September 25, 2025

Bench: Justices Salil Kumar Rai and Sandeep Jain