ORDER : 1. This Writ Petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India has been filed by 13 Petitioners seeking orders directing the Respondent-State to release the Petitioners from custody. 2. All these Petitioners have been sentenced, inter alia, to imprisonment for life. All the Petitioners had been in custody for over 14 years as on date of filing of this Writ Petition, except for the Petitioner No. 9, who had been in custody for about 13 years 10 months. By now, the Petitioner No.9 has also been in custody for over 14 years. 3. By an order dated 24.05.2012 passed in a Public Interest Litigation being Criminal (PIL) Misc. W.P. No.855/2012, the Allahabad High Court directed the Juvenile Justice Boards to hold an enquiry for determination of the age of prisoners languishing in jails who claimed to have been juveniles in conflict with the law. 4. Pursuant to the aforesaid order of the Allahabad High Court dated 24.05.2012 the Juvenile Justice Boards concerned conducted an enquiry into the age of these 13 Petitioners, at the time of the alleged offence and found that they had all been less than 18 years of age. 5. Particulars of the orders of the Juvenile Justice Boards declaring the respective Petitioners to be juvenile as on the date of commission of the offence, the status of the criminal proceedings relating to the Petitioners and the period of incarceration undergone by the respective Petitioners as on 1st June, 2021 will appear from the table given hereinbelow:- Sr. No. Name Date of order of JJB High Courts/Supreme Court Status Sentence Undergone as on 1.6.21 1. Tikam Singh @Tinku 23.2.17 Crl.Appeal No.399/2008-(Pending) 20 years 2. Amit 10.7.19 Crl. Appeal No.1315/2016- (Pending) 14 years 3. Asgar @ Hapli 19.8.19 Crl. Appeal No.2760/2007- (Pending) Crl. Appeal No.2713/2006- (Pending) 19 years 4. Bablu @ Sahidul Hassan 1.3.19 Crl. Appeal No.1125/2010-(Pending) 15 years 5. Shahid 1.3.19 Crl. Appeal No.1125/2010-(Pending) 14.8 years 6. Bhola 12.9.19 Crl. Appeal No.4458/2008-(Pending) 18.8 years 7. Furkaan 25.10.18 Crl. Appeal No.1315/2016-(Pending) 14.6 years 8. Teju 6.3.21 Crl. Appeal No.6050/2009- (Pending) 15.3 years 9. Waliuddin 6.10.20 Crl. Appeal No.2171/2012-(Pending) 13.10 years 10. Sonu @ Gajendra 1.8.18 Crl. Appeal No.1013/2006-(Pending) 20.10 years 11. Satvir 19.10.19 SLP (Crl.) No.2557-58/2015 dismissed on 23.2.17 19.1 years 12. Pintu Saini 6.3.19 SLP (Crl.) No.9833/2014 dismissed on 20.4.17 18.11 years 13. Furkaan 25.10.18 Crl. Appeal No.1315/2016-(Pending) 14.6 years 8. Teju 6.3.21 Crl. Appeal No.6050/2009- (Pending) 15.3 years 9. Waliuddin 6.10.20 Crl. Appeal No.2171/2012-(Pending) 13.10 years 10. Sonu @ Gajendra 1.8.18 Crl. Appeal No.1013/2006-(Pending) 20.10 years 11. Satvir 19.10.19 SLP (Crl.) No.2557-58/2015 dismissed on 23.2.17 19.1 years 12. Pintu Saini 6.3.19 SLP (Crl.) No.9833/2014 dismissed on 20.4.17 18.11 years 13. Aadil @ Pappu 21.8.18 SLP ( Crl.) No.5704/2005 disposed on 10.11.06 22.2 years 6. Section 7A (1) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 hereinafter referred to as the “the JJ Act” and the proviso thereto provided that a claim of juvenility might be raised before any court and it shall be recognized at any stage, even after final disposal of the case, and such claim shall be determined in terms of the provisions contained in the JJ Act and the Rules made thereunder, even if the juvenile has ceased to be so, on or before the date of commencement of the JJ Act. 7. Sub-section (2) of Section 7A mandates that if the Court finds a person to be a juvenile on the date of the commission of offence under sub-section (1), it shall forward the juvenile to the Juvenile Justice Board for passing an appropriate order, and the sentence, if any, passed by a Court shall be deemed to have no effect. 8. Section 16 of the JJ Act, 2000 provides as hereunder: “16. Order that may not be passed against juvenile. 8. Section 16 of the JJ Act, 2000 provides as hereunder: “16. Order that may not be passed against juvenile. —(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law for the time being in force, no juvenile in conflict with law shall be sentenced to death or imprisonment for any term which may extend to imprisonment for life, or committed to prison in default of payment of fine or in default of furnishing security: Provided that where a juvenile who has attained the age of sixteen years has committed an offence and the Board is satisfied that the offence committed is of so serious in nature or that his conduct and behaviour have been such that it would not be in his interest or in the interest of other juvenile in a special home to send him to such special home and that none of the other measures provided under this Act is suitable or sufficient, the Board may order the juvenile in conflict with law to be kept in such place of safety and in such manner as it thinks fit and shall report the case for the order of the State Government. (2) On receipt of a report from a Board under sub-section (1), the State Government may make such arrangement in respect of the juvenile as it deems proper and may order such juvenile to be kept under protective custody at such place and on such conditions as it thinks fit: Provided that the period of detention so ordered shall not exceed in any case the maximum period provided under Section 15 of this Act.” 9. The maximum period of detention in respect of a juvenile is three years as provided in Section 15(1)(g). The said Section provides that where the Juvenile Justice Board is, on inquiry, satisfied that the juvenile has committed an offence, then notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other law for the time being in force, the Juvenile Justice Board may, if it thinks fit, make an order directing the juvenile to be sent to a special home for a period of three years. 10. It is not in dispute that the concerned Juvenile Justice Boards have found all the 13 Petitioners to have been juvenile on the date of commission of the offences alleged against them. 11. 10. It is not in dispute that the concerned Juvenile Justice Boards have found all the 13 Petitioners to have been juvenile on the date of commission of the offences alleged against them. 11. In view of Section 7A of the JJ Act referred to hereinabove, applicable to the Petitioners, the plea of juvenility could be raised in any court, at any stage even after final disposal of criminal proceedings. In the case of the Petitioner Nos.11, 12 and 13, even their Special Leave Petitions have been dismissed by this Court. However, this court is still obliged to consider the plea of juvenility taken by the Petitioners and grant them appropriate relief. The fact that the JJ Act has later been replaced by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 would make no difference. 12. In view of Section 16 read with Section 15(1)(g) of the JJ Act, 2000 the maximum period for which the Petitioners could have been detained in custody is three years and even the maximum custody of three years had to be in a special home for juveniles. In no circumstances could the Petitioners have been detained in custody beyond three years. The Petitioners are liable to be released and their conviction by the criminal courts liable to be set aside as without jurisdiction. 13. By an order dated 8th July, 2021, this Court had directed that the 13 Petitioners immediately be released on interim bail on furnishing bail bonds. The interim order of bail is confirmed since the sentence of imprisonment in excess of three years against a juvenile is liable to be set aside. 14. The writ petition is, accordingly, disposed of. 15. Pending applications, if any, also stand disposed of.