SC Sets Aside Murder Conviction Over Juvenility Claim After 21 Years
Case Title: Mahavir @ Anvish v State of Madhya Pradesh
Case No.: SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (CRIMINAL) NO. 5654 OF 2026
Coram: Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Shree Chandshekhar
Court Observation
“no man should suffer a wrong by technical procedure of irregularities. Rules or procedures are the handmaids of justice and not the mistress of the justice. Ex debito justitiae, we must do justice to him. If a man has been wronged so long as it lies within the human machinery of administration of justice that wrong must be remedied.”
“The crime of murder and dowry death having not been proved by the prosecution, the appellant could not have been convicted under section 201 Part II of the Indian Penal Code. His conviction under section 201 Part II can be recorded only upon a finding that a crime was committed and he was knowing or having reason to believe that such an offence was committed, and with the intent to screen the offender from legal punishment, caused the evidence thereof to disappear Therefore, the conviction of the appellant under section 201 Part II of the Indian Penal Code must be held illegal,”
“A child should not be treated as a criminal. He is a victim of the circumstances. Sometimes he is drawn to the crime world due to socio-economic or emotional and psychological reasons. The State owes a responsibility to reintegrate the juveniles in society, rather than permanently stigmatizing them,”
SC Sets Aside Murder Conviction Over Juvenility Claim After 21 Years
