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Suresh v. The State of Uttar Pradesh

Criminal Appeal · 2025 INSC 918Decided 1 Aug 2025
Criminal Appeal No. 347 of 2018
Justice Pankaj Mithal · Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah

Background

During a family land dispute in 2011, the appellant Suresh's brother Rajesh was allegedly shot dead by their cousin (Respondent No. 2/Devi Singh) after a scuffle. Devi Singh claimed he was a juvenile (16 years, 4 months old) at the time based on a school transfer certificate, and both the trial court and the Allahabad High Court accepted this, sparing him a full criminal trial as an adult. Suresh challenged this, pointing to conflicting official records, a Gram Panchayat family register and a voters' list, both showing Devi Singh was actually an adult (20-22 years old) at the time, along with a Medical Board report estimating his age at 22.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court set aside the juvenility finding. It held that the school transfer certificate relied upon was unreliable because the school's own headmaster admitted the date of birth had been recorded merely on the oral say-so of the boy's father, with no supporting proof, and the school itself was private (not a government body), so its records did not carry the legal weight of an official "public document." Weighing this against the statutory Family Register, the Voters' List, and the Medical Board's report, all pointing to adulthood, the Court held Devi Singh was not a juvenile on the date of the offence and must be tried as an adult, directing the trial to be completed on priority by July 2026.

Lesson Learnt

A school certificate is not automatically conclusive proof of age, especially where it is based only on an unverified oral statement to school staff. Courts can and should weigh it against other reliable evidence like statutory registers, electoral rolls, and medical opinion, particularly in serious crimes where age claims can be misused to escape a full trial.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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