After 10 Months In Observation Home, Chhattisgarh HC Grants Bail To Juvenile Accused In POCSO Case, Saying Further Stay May Harm His Childhood

The juvenile applicant was charged under Section 65(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, arising from an allegation that he forcibly took a minor victim into a room and sexually exploited her

The Juvenile Justice Board rejected his 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 period in the Observation Home, the absence of adverse remarks in his social status report, and the potential adverse effect of continued institutionalisation.

The State and the victim’s mother opposed release; the State nevertheless accepted that the report contained no adverse remarks

The report recorded that the applicant had been in the Observation Home since 20 December 2025, had no other criminal antecedents, and had good conduct and behaviour there

Section 12 of the JJ Act governs bail for a child alleged to be in conflict with the law, while Section 102 provides for revision before the High Court

The Court’s reasoning rested on the juvenile’s circumstances as recorded in the social status report, including his conduct, criminal antecedents, and the potential adverse effect of continued stay in the Observation Home

The judgment cites no precedents and does not set out a detailed formulation of the statutory exceptions to bail under Section 12 of the JJ Act

The Court considered the social status report and found that the applicant had no criminal antecedents apart from the present case and had behaved well in the Observation Home

It concluded that further detention could adversely affect his childhood and, in light of the other circumstances, warranted allowing the revision, notwithstanding the objections to release

Conditions requiring parental supervision, attendance before the Board, and non-interference with the inquiry were imposed to regulate release

Release was subject to conditions concerning attendance before the Board, cooperation with the inquiry, identity documentation, and parental supervision to prevent further offending