SC Orders Doctor To Plant 100 Trees For Attempting To Murder As A Juvenile In 2004

The Supreme Court directed a 32-year-old doctor who was accused of attempting to murder at the age of 16, to plant 100 trees over the course of next year. The accused was convicted under Section 307.

Dr Solemen S.K, who is practising at Murshidabad in West Bengal, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for the crime. The Calcutta High Court later upheld the decision.

However, Solemen knocked the doors of the Supreme Court and reiterated the fact that he had committed the crime when he was a minor in August 2004.

According to the Live Law, Solemen’s special leave petition was dismissed by the Apex Court. However, in the disposed of Special Leave Petition, an under Section 9 (2) of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 was filed seeking a declaration that he was a minor on the date of offence.

After hearing the doctor’s plea, the apex court’s bench headed by Justices Hemant Gupta and L. Nageswara Rao asked the District and Sessions Judge, Berhampore, Murshidabad, West Bengal on February 25, 2019, to cross-check Solemen’s story.

After checking Solemen’s story, the district judge fortified that the doctor indeed attempted to commit murder when he was a minor of 16 years seven months and 28 days. Multiple identity cards and school records proved that Solemen was born in February 1987.

Section 18 of the Juvenile Justice Act states that if a juvenile is found accused, then he would be a child in conflict with the law and he has to referred to the Juvenile Justice Board.

However, considering the present age of the accused (32), the top court said that since the crime was committed in 2004, it is inappropriate to send the accused to the Juvenile Justice Board. Instead, the court came up with a punishment that is better for the environment and will also serve as a community service.

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