(1)(i)Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any law, no person who was a child at the date of the commission of the offences shall be sentenced to death or life imprisonment or committed to prison for any offence or in default of payment of fine, damage or costs:Provided that a child who is fourteen years of age or upwards may be committed to prison where the court certifies that he is of so unruly or of so depraved a character that he is not a fit person to be sent to a certified school and that none of the other methods in which the case may legally be dealt with is suitable.(ii)"Child" means a person under the age of 16 years.(2)If in any case the Superintendent is of the view that a child has been committed to the jail in contravention of the provisions of the East Punjab Children Act, 1949, he shall proceed in the manner provided in section 17 of the Prisoners Act, 1900.Note. - Under section 397 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Sessions Judge has the power to call for and examine the record of any proceeding before any inferior Criminal Court situated within his local jurisdiction for the purpose of satisfying himself as to the correctness, legality or propriety of any finding, sentence or order, recorded or passed. It is only when an irregularity exists that cannot be set right under this provision that a report should be made to the Government under Section 17 of the Prisoners Act, 1900.
