Mahavir @ Avnish vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh on 7 April, 2026

Supreme Court – Daily Orders

Mahavir @ Avnish vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh on 7 April, 2026

Author: Prashant Kumar Mishra

Bench: Prashant Kumar Mishra

                         ITEM NO.24            COURT NO.16              SECTION II-E

                                  S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
                                           RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

                         Petition(s) for    Special       Leave    to   Appeal   (Crl.)
                         No(s).5654/2026

                         [Arising out of impugned final judgment and order
                         dated 23-02-2026 in MCRC No.24675/2018 passed by
                         the High Court of Madhya Pradesh at Gwalior]

                         MAHAVIR @ AVNISH                               Petitioner(s)

                                                          VERSUS

                         THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH                    Respondent(s)

                         FOR ADMISSION
                         IA No. 96682/2026 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.

                         Date : 07-04-2026 This matter was called on for
                         hearing today.

                         CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PRASHANT KUMAR MISHRA
                                 HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE N.V. ANJARIA

                         For Petitioner(s) : M/S. Prashant Shukla Law
                                             Chambers, AOR

                         For Respondent(s) : Mr. Surjeet Singh, Adv.
                                        Mr. Yashraj Singh Bundela, Adv.

                              UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the
                         following
                                              O R D E R

1. Vide judgment dated 21.12.2005 passed by the

Second Additional Sessions Judge, Morena in
Signature Not Verified

SPONSORED

Digitally signed by
NEHA GUPTA
Date: 2026.04.07

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17:54:00 IST
Reason:

Sessions Case No.129/2005, the petitioner was

convicted for committing offence under Section 201

of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (“IPC”) while

acquitting him of the charges under Section 302/34

of the IPC with regard to murder of Bhuri and

Guddi as also for the charges under Section 304B

of the IPC. The said judgment was affirmed by the

High Court and, thereafter, the Special Leave

Petition preferred by the petitioner bearing SLP

(Crl) No.4286/2018 was dismissed as withdrawn.

2. After the dismissal of the SLP, petitioner

moved the High Court under Section 482 of the

Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 seeking recall of

the judgment dated 17.03.2017, in which his appeal

was dismissed by the High Court, on the ground

that on the date of offence, petitioner was a

juvenile. The High Court directed an inquiry by

the Juvenile Justice Board to ascertain the

petitioner’s claim about his juvenility. The

Juvenile Justice Board, in its report dated

11.05.2019 recorded a finding after inquiry that

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petitioner’s date of birth is 01.07.1987.

Therefore, as on the date of occurrence, i.e.,

13.09.2004, he was aged about 17 years 2 months

and 12 days and thus, he was a juvenile on the

date of offence. Despite this report, the High

Court has rejected petitioner’s prayer on the

ground that the Special Leave Petition having

already been dismissed, the High Court has no

jurisdiction to reopen the matter.

3. Having considered the submissions made by the

learned counsel for the petitioner and on perusal

of records as also on the basis of judgments

rendered by this Court in the cases of Abuzar

Bengal, reported in (2012) 10 SCC 489 and State of

Madhya Pradesh Vs. Ramji Lal and Anr., reported in

(2025) 5 SCC 697, we are inclined to entertain

this petition.

4. Issue notice to the respondent, returnable

within six weeks.

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5. Mr. Surjeet Singh, learned counsel appears

for the respondent – State of Madhya Pradesh and

accepts notice. Let counter-affidavit be filed

within four weeks from today.

6. In the meanwhile, petitioner shall be

released on bail on such terms and conditions as

may be imposed by the trial court.

  (NEHA GUPTA)                       (CHETNA BALOONI)
COURT MASTER (SH)                   COURT MASTER (NSH)




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