A juvenile must be released on bail unless a statutory exception under Section 12 is established.

The juvenile applicant was accused, along with a co-accused, of demanding money from the victim and assaulting him after he refused.

A case was registered under Sections 296, 115(2), 351(3), 119(1) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023; following investigation, a charge-sheet was filed before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB).

The JJB rejected the applicant’s bail application under Section 12 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and the appellate court dismissed his appeal.

In revision under Section 102 of the JJ Act, the applicant relied on his juvenile status, first involvement in conflict with law, time in the observation home, and the filing of the charge-sheet.

Whether the orders refusing bail to the juvenile applicant should be set aside under the applicable provisions of the JJ Act.

Whether the applicant’s release could be refused on the basis that it might bring him into association with a known criminal, expose him to moral, physical or psychological danger, or defeat the ends of justice.

Section 12 of the JJ Act governs bail for a child alleged to be in conflict with law and favours release, subject to the statutory grounds for refusal, including a reasonable likelihood of association with a known criminal, exposure to moral, physical or psychological danger, or the release defeating the ends of justice.

Section 102 of the JJ Act provides the High Court’s revisional jurisdiction.

The social status report recorded that this was the applicant’s first conflict with law and that his conduct in the observation home was good.

The prosecution had not shown that any of the statutory grounds for refusing release applied.

Considering those circumstances, the applicant’s period in the observation home and the fact that the charge-sheet had already been filed, the Court found that continued detention was not justified and allowed the revision.

It directed that the applicant be released into his parents’ custody if either parent furnished a personal bond of ₹25,000, together with one surety for the like amount, to the satisfaction of the JJB, for the applicant’s appearance as directed.