Chhattisgarh HC Grants Bail To Juvenile Accused In Fatal Wrong-Side Crash, Citing First Conflict With Law And Good Conduct

On 12 July 2026, the juvenile, while driving a car on the wrong side, collided with a scooty; its rider sustained grievous injuries and died. An FIR was registered under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and a charge-sheet was filed before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB).

The JJB rejected the juvenile’s bail application under Section 12 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act), and the appellate court upheld that decision.

The juvenile challenged both orders in this revision under Section 102 of the JJ Act.

Section 12 of the JJ Act governs bail for a child alleged to be in conflict with law. The provision favours release on bail unless there are reasonable grounds to believe that release is likely to bring the child into association with a known criminal, expose the child to moral, physical, or psychological danger, or defeat the ends of justice.

Section 102 of the JJ Act provides for revision.

No judicial precedents were cited.

The Court considered the social status report, which recorded that this was the juvenile’s first conflict with law, that his conduct at the observation home was good, and that he was a Class 11 student.

He had been in the observation home since 16 July 2026, and the charge-sheet had already been filed.

Although the State and the deceased’s father opposed bail on the basis of the circumstances of the accident, they acknowledged that the social status report was not negative.

The prosecution had not shown that any of the statutory grounds for refusing release under Section 12 applied; the Court therefore found that bail was warranted.

It directed that the juvenile be released into the custody of his parents if either parent furnishes a personal bond of Rs. 50,000, along with one surety for the like amount, to the satisfaction of the JJB, to secure the juvenile’s appearance as directed.