HC’s new fiat in teacher murder case
The Madras high court has quashed proceedings conducted by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) in the case relating to the murder of Uma Maheswari, a teacher, allegedly by a Class IX student in the classroom at a school in North Chennai on February 9, 2012.
Justice S. Nagamuthu disposed of a petition from the student to transfer the trial from JJB, Chennai, to any other district juvenile board and said the evidences recorded so far by the JJB shall stand erased.
The state government in consultation with the high court shall as soon as possible appoint a qualified judicial magistrate as the principal magistrate of the JJB, Chennai.
The final report submitted by the police shall be considered and further proceeding shall be conducted by such a validly constituted bench of JJB, the judge said.
Justice Nagamuthu held that the proceedings conducted by the JJB including XX metropolitan magistrate (MM), who was not a designated principal magistrate, was illegal. “A perusal of the records produced, unfortunately, reveals that there has been no proper appointment of a designated principal magistrate to the Board at all,” the judge said. The judge said that in this case, probably, the metropolitan magistrate thought it fit to act as the principal magistrate.
She was empowered only to discharge the magisterial functions of the XII MM and not to act as the principal magistrate of the JJB.
“Thus, the entire proceedings are all wholly without jurisdiction. The summary procedure adopted by the JJB is illegal,” the judge said.
Justice Nagamuthu said a serious lapse had been committed by the magistrate in holding the trial at her chambers instead of the JJB premises, which offers the mandatory child-friendly atmosphere. Section 9 of the Act totally prohibits trial sitting of the JJB in court premises.
“Curiously, the entire proceeding in this case was conducted by the JJB only in the chamber of the XX MM. Thus, the proceedings conducted in the chamber cannot be stated to be child-friendly.
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