Court caseAIR 1977 SC 2236

Hiralal Mallick, aged about twelve, together with his father and two elder brothers, attacked Arjan Mallick with swords in a village in Bihar, following a quarrel between the families. The boy struck blows on the neck of the deceased, who died. The trial court convicted all four of murder under s. 302 read with s. 34 IPC; the High Court altered the boy's conviction to s. 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by a dangerous weapon) and sentenced him to four years' rigorous imprisonment. He appealed to the Supreme Court.

Krishna Iyer J held that the boy, having completed twelve years, could not claim s. 83 IPC, but the murderous intention of his elders could not be imputed to a child who imitated them in a fit of family loyalty; the conviction under s. 326 was proper. On sentence the Court spoke at length on juvenile justice: a child should be reformed, not brutalised by adult prisons, and the sentencing court must consider his age, the influence of his elders and the prospects of rehabilitation. The sentence was reduced and directions given for the boy's treatment in custody.