Probation of Offenders Act s.6(1): Age to be considered is as on the date of consideration and not the date of offence.
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(1) that the age referred to in s. 6 (1) of the
Probation of Offenders Act, 1958, is that when the courts
deal; with the offender, that being the point of time when
the court has to choose between the two alternatives,
whether to sentence the offender to imprisonment or to apply
to him the provisions of s. 6(1) of the Act.
(2)that the courts mentioned in s. 11 of the Act, be they
trial courts or courts exercising appellate or revisional
jurisdiction, are empowered to exercise the jurisdiction
conferred on courts not only under ss. 3 and 4 and the con.
sequential provisions but also under s. 6.
(3)that the power conferred on appellate or other courts
by s. 1 1 (1) of the Act is of the same nature and chara-
cteristics and subject to the same criteria and limitations
as that conferred on the courts under ss. 3 and 4.
(4)that the provisions of s. 6. (1) restrict the absolute
and unfettered discretion implied by the word ,may" in S. 11
(1), and the entirety of s. 6 (1) applies to guide or con-
dition the jurisdiction of the High Court under s. 11(1).
(5)that the crucial date for reckoning the age where an
appellate court modifies the judgment of the trial judge
when s. 6 becomes applicable to a person only on the
decision of an appellate or a revisional court, is that upon
which the trial court had to deal with the offender.
Supreme Court of India
Ramji Missir And Another vs The State Of Bihar on 6 December, 1962
Equivalent citations: 1963 AIR 1088, 1963 SCR Supl. (2) 745
Bench: Ayyangar, N. Rajagopala
