According to the case, the incident took place on December 15, 2017, at Manawar in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh.The accused had raped and killed the girl. At the time of the incident, the age of the accused was said to be 19 years.In the case, the police had filed a case and presented the charge sheet in the court, on the basis of which the accused was sentenced to death by the Sessions Court, the High Court also kept the death sentence of the accused intact. The accused filed a petition in the Supreme Court stating that he was a minor at the time of the incident.The petition challenged the decision of the Sessions Court and the High Court.On this, the Supreme Court directed the Sessions Court to ascertain the exact age of the accused. After investigation, the Sessions Court determined the exact age of the accused as 15 years and 5 months. While hearing the petition, Justice VR Gawahi Justice Vikram Nath Justice Sanjay Kaul's division bench raised questions on the working of the police and said that the police, without verifying the correct age of the accused, made him a common accused.The division bench has upheld the conviction of the accused in appeal but has set aside the sentence considering his age at the time of the incident and has ordered the accused to be released immediately. The bench also said that there is no need to send him to the Juvenile Justice Board or any other child reform institution, at present his age is more than 20 years, the maximum sentence of 3 years under the Juvenile Justice Act While the accused has been in jail for the last 5 years, the accused has served more than the maximum sentence of 3 years, so the accused should be released immediately.
