The Delhi High Court has ruled that a child alleged to be in conflict with law cannot be tried jointly with an adult offender, even if the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) has assessed the child to be psychologically and physically mature to face trial as an adult.

The Single Bench of Justice Anish Dayal emphasized that Section 23 of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act explicitly prohibits joint proceedings of a child in conflict with law and an adult accused.

"As per the plain reading of Section 23 of the JJ Act, and even by the dissection given above, there can be no doubt that joint trials ought not to be held between a child in conflict with law (being tried as an adult) and an adult offender," the Court stated.

Legal Provisions and Observations

The Court noted that Section 23 of the JJ Act mandates the separation of trials for a child in conflict with law and a person who is not a child (i.e., an adult aged 18 years or above). It pointed out that the provision uses the term "shall" to highlight the absolute prohibition on joint trials.

"Once having reached a conclusion that the offender is a child or an adult, Section 23(2) of the JJ Act would kick in, and trial of the adult would have to be separated, notwithstanding that they have been accused of the same offense committed in the course of the same transaction," the Court clarified.

It further stated that permitting joint trials would render the prohibition under Section 23 nugatory, otiose, and redundant, which is impermissible under the law.

Case Background

The Court was hearing a revision petition filed by a child in conflict with law challenging a trial court order that had refused to separate his trial from that of an adult accused in a murder case.

Both the child and the adult accused, students of a boys' school, were accused of attacking a teacher with a knife, leading to his death in the hospital.

Allowing the revision petition, the Delhi High Court set aside the trial court’s order and directed that the child’s trial be conducted separately.

"Considering the prohibition against 'joint proceedings,' there can be no doubt that the child in conflict with law must be tried independently from the adult offender. The recording of evidence and final stages of trial, including arguments, must be conducted separately," the Court concluded.

Cause Title: CCL 'K' v. The State (NCT of Delhi) [Neutral Citation No. 2025: DHC: 1386]

Appearance:-

Petitioner: Advocates Ashim Sood, Ashish Kumar, Prateek Kundu, Yamina Rizvi, Ragini Nagpal, Ms. Isha Khurana, Ashish Panday, Ekansh Gupta, Ankur Singhal, Subramaniam

Respondent: APP Aman Usman

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Justice Anish DayalDelhi High CourtJuvenile Justice (Care and Protection of the Children) Act 2015

Sukriti Mishra

    Sukriti Mishra was a Legal Correspondent at Verdictum. She covered the Supreme Court. She completed her graduation with BA. LL.B (Hons.) from The ICFAI University, Dehradun. Sukriti started covering courts in March 2022. She had previously worked with another legal news portal, where she covered the Delhi High Court and Trial Courts.