JUDGMENT 1. In this case, the accused was convicted of receiving a bicycle and retaining it, knowing it to be stolen property under sec. 411 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to four months' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 50. We are informed that his age is between 16 and 17. There is no definite evidence about this and the District Magistrate says that when recording his confession, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate recorded his age as 18 and the trying Magistrate noted it as 20. He is a married man but this fact does not help us very much, and it may well be that his age is as stated by the learned Advocate who appears on his behalf. The various estimates of age mentioned by the District Magistrate do not seem to be based on any evidence. This was the Petitioner's first offence, and in view of this fact and his age and the land of offence, namely, the stealing of a bicycle, which is an offence fairly common among young people, we think that it would have been more appropriate to have bound him over under sec. 562 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In our opinion, it is undesirable to send a youth of this age to prison for a first offence, unless he has been charged with a serious offence. The provisions of this section do not appear to be used sufficiently by the Subordinate Courts and the explanation of the Magistrate seems to indicate that the reason and object of the provisions of the section are not fully appreciated. It is not so much a question of whether the prisoner is repentant or whether he has been guilty, as the Magistrate says, of moral turpitude. The object of the section is to offer an alternative to the Courts, so that in the case of first offenders of tender years the Courts may avoid the necessity of sending such persons to jail, and offer them a further chance to turn over a new leaf. To send such persons to jail may have the effect of turning into habitual criminals those who have drifted without thinking into crime. In these circumstances, we set aside the sentence of 4 months' rigorous imprisonment and the fine imposed upon the accused and order him to be bound over under sec. To send such persons to jail may have the effect of turning into habitual criminals those who have drifted without thinking into crime. In these circumstances, we set aside the sentence of 4 months' rigorous imprisonment and the fine imposed upon the accused and order him to be bound over under sec. 562 to be of good behaviour for a period of twelve months and to come up for judgment if (sic) upon. He himself will be bound in a sum of Rs. 100 and he must also furnish one surety in the same amount, viz., Rs. 100. Upon these bonds being entered into, the accused may be discharged.