In Brief
Pratap Singh was convicted of culpable homicide (not amounting to murder) under Section 304 Part II IPC for fatally assaulting Rajesh Sah in 1995 and sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment. He appealed, claiming he was a juvenile at the time and thus ineligible for juvenile justice protection, and that the sentence was excessive. The Supreme Court held that his CBSE school certificates from 1993 and 1995 conclusively showed his date of birth as 13 June 1977, making him over 18 on 18 June 1995; a later birth certificate without supporting documentation could not override this. The conviction was upheld as the injured eyewitness testimony was credible and corroborated by medical evidence. However, the Court found the 10-year sentence disproportionate given the spontaneous nature of the incident, his youth, absence of prior record, and time already served (over three years), reducing the sentence to time already served.
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.