were relied upon. After recording the statement of the accused under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the court below had pronounced the judgment and the petitioner was acquitted. The State had preferred a Criminal Appeal before this court in Crl.A.1121/1999 and this court had set aside the judgment of acquittal of the petitioner and another and convicted them for the offences punishable under Sections 143, 147, 148, 302, 324 read with Section 149 IPC and sentenced them to undergo life imprisonment and pay a fine of Rs.1,000/-. The petitioner and another had preferred an appeal against the conviction before the apex court which was dismissed. The petitioner has been serving sentence since then. The petitioner, it is claimed was a minor as on the date of the alleged offence and this not denied. However, the benefit of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (Hereinafter referred to as the ‘JJCPC Act’, for brevity) has not been extended to the petitioner for inexplicable reasons. It is only in retrospect that the petitioner had realized that he could
