8. Ordinarily, the merits of the matter may not be unduly important where the Courts are inclined to give benefit of bail as envisaged in Section 12 of the Juvenile Justice Act. This is not to say that once a person is found a juvenile, it is mandatory to grant him bail and that gravity and the merits of matter shall have no relevance. In my view, the nature of the crime and factors connected thereto never went into oblivion and this particular aspect have been usefully illuminated by the Courts time and again. I am of the view that in fact nature of the offence and merits of the matter may assume ample significance when the Court has to form an opinion about the ends of justice. It may be noted that the phrase 'ends of justice', cannot exist in a vacuum. Unarguably and undeniably, the Courts are under obligation to address the concerns of both the sides and strike a delicate balance between competing and often conflicting demands of justice of the two sides. When viewing the matters of bail from this particular angle of deciphering the ends of justice, not only the nature of crime, but also the manner of commission thereof, methodology applied, the mental state, the extent of involvement, the evidence available shall be the factors to reckon with. To my mind, from this particular point of view, no artificial line can be drawn to differentiate cases of juvenile above 16 years from those who are found just below 16, in ordinary circumstances.
