In Brief
A man convicted of murder under IPC Section 302 claimed he was a juvenile at the time of the offence (May 2000) but the High Court dismissed his age-determination applications. The Supreme Court held that the 2007 Juvenile Justice Rules do not apply retrospectively; the applicable law is the 2001 Rules. The school and municipal birth certificates showed conflicting dates (1982 vs 1981). Since the High Court had not decided the juvenility issue on merits and different rules now apply, the Court set aside the High Court's dismissal order and remitted the matter for fresh consideration of age determination under the correct, applicable rules.
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