The court said that object of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act is to ensure that no stigma is attached to a juvenile in conflict with law and a minor is extended a protective umbrella under the enactment.
A bench of justices Hima Kohli and Rekha Palli made the observations in a case where a constable was removed from service in the Reserved Police Force (RPF) by the Railway Board on the ground that he had not disclosed pendency of a criminal case lodged against him for an incident that took place when he was 12 years old.
It said the contention of the Centre and the Ministry of Railways that the man was under an obligation to disclose this information was "contrary to the very spirit of the Act".
"Keeping in mind the fact that the object of the Act is to ensure that no stigma is attached to a juvenile in conflict with law, in our view, once the juvenile has been extended a protective umbrella under the said enactment, there was no good reason for the Centre and ministry to have insisted that the man ought to have disclosed the information relating to the allegations against him pertaining to an offence that was committed during his childhood where he was tried by the Juvenile Justice Board, and subsequently acquitted," it said.
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"This was in fact a gross breach of confidentiality contemplated under the Act," it said.
The man's counsel submitted that the proceedings against him were conducted at a Juvenile Justice Board in Bihar's Gopalganj and he was acquitted in August 2015 and as he was a juvenile at the time of the alleged offences of rioting and attempt to murder, he was not required to disclose this information pertaining to his childhood.
He said pendency of such a case came to the notice of the authorities only at the time of police verification regarding his antecedents.
The man had applied for the post in 2011 and he was called submitting an attestation form in May 2014.
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