The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that a juvenile accused should undergo a rehabilitation programme instead of being punished.
It said that such accused should be given special treatment so that they become responsible citizens in the future. The observation was made when a three-member SC bench headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar granted post-arrest bail to a fourteen-and-half-year accused in a murder case.
The court, in its order, observed that the accused, Mehran, was 14 years and 5 months old at the time of the incident according to the school certificate. It further said that according to the first information report, two persons were travelling in the vehicle when Mehran along with a companion tried to stop the vehicle. As per the case, the accused Mehran opened fire after the vehicle did not stop, killing one person, it added. The SC said that the Peshawar High Court (PHC) had rejected the bail application due to a delay in the trial on the heinous charge. The order said, “There is a law to treat juvenile accused differently from adult accused. According to the law of juvenile accused, they should not be punished but they should undergo a rehabilitation programme and they should be given special treatment so that they become responsible citizen in future.”