In Brief
Makkella Nagaiah was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009 for an offence committed on 21.12.2005. Two months after the Supreme Court dismissed his special leave petition in July 2022, he filed a writ petition claiming he was a juvenile at the time of the crime. The Court directed an inquiry, and the Additional Sessions Judge confirmed his date of birth as 02.05.1989, making him 16 years 7 months old when the offence occurred. Under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, a juvenile's maximum incarceration period is three years. As he had already served over 12 years, the Court released him, holding that juvenility can be raised at any stage and that statutory protections for juvenile offenders must be observed.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.