Kendrapara: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought a reply from the Chief Secretary within four weeks regarding the jailing of a juvenile for 14 years in Nayagarh district.
The NHRC passed the order recently after considering the material placed before it by Supreme Court lawyer and rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy and the state authorities.
The petitioner alleged that the minor boy was kept along with regular prisoners due to negligence by the administration and jail staff instead of sending him to the juvenile home.
The NHRC sought an ATR from the DGP and Secretary of the Department of Women and Child Welfare regarding the matter.
The NHRC considered the response of the Nayagarh SP that the boy’s birth year was mentioned as 1977 in the records, and that he was arrested September 22, 2003. The SP said that at the time of arrest he was a major and he is in Rampur sub-jail undergoing life imprisonment.
The NHRC sought a rejoinder from the petitioner. Tripathy stated that the victim was a minor at the time of the crime, and he should have been tried by the Juvenile Justice Board and not at the sessions court.
Tripathy said his date of birth as per school records is April 19, 1986, and annexed a document to support the claim.
The juvenile can be sentenced only to a maximum of three years in India for a crime, but he had to stay in prison for around 17 years due to the negligence of the authorities, Tripathy said.
The NHRC considered the material placed before it and said the allegations were serious as the complainant had annexed a document supporting his claim.
PNN