The Uttarakhand High Court has ordered the immediate release of a man who spent 13 years in jail in a murder case, after ruling that he was a minor at the time of the crime.

A division bench of Justices Ravindra Maithani and Ashish Naithani said the sentence of life imprisonment given to the convict was not legally valid, as Indian law does not allow such punishment for juveniles.

The case relates to a murder and attempted robbery that occurred in Roorkee in June 2003. The accused was convicted by a sessions court, and the verdict was later upheld by the high court in 2013. The conviction was also confirmed by the Supreme Court.

In 2021, the convict sent an application from jail claiming that he was under 18 years old on the date of the incident. Following this, the High Court ordered a detailed inquiry by the Registrar (Judicial).

After checking school records, student registers, and witness statements, the inquiry found that the man was born on May 22, 1988, making him 15 years and one month old at the time of the crime.

The court referred to the Juvenile Justice Act, which allows a person to claim juvenility at any stage, even after conviction or completion of trial.

The bench noted that a juvenile cannot be sentenced to life imprisonment and cannot be kept in a reformatory for more than three years. Since the convict had already spent over 13 years in prison, the court ruled that he must be released immediately.

The conviction itself was upheld, but the punishment was ruled unlawful under juvenile law.