Pratap Singh vs State Of Jharkhand & Anr

The Supreme Court addressed the issue of determining the age of a juvenile under the Juvenile Justice Act, holding that the relevant date for assessing juvenile status is the date of production before the court, not the date of the alleged offence. The Court emphasized that the best evidence for establishing age is the school certificate, as per the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986, rather than the 2000 Act. The matter was referred to a Constitution Bench due to conflicting judgments in Arnit Das vs. State of Bihar and Umesh Chandra vs. State of Rajasthan.