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(2) In case, the Committee or the Board has reasonable grounds for doubt regarding whether the person brought before it is a child or not, the Committee or the Board, as the case may be, shall undertake the process of age determination, by seeking evidence by obtaining--
(i) the date of birth certificate from the school, or the matriculation or equivalent certificate from the concerned examination Board, if available; and in the absence thereof;
(ii) the birth certificate given by a corporation or a municipal authority or a panchayat;

(Emphasised) A perusal of sub section (2) of Section 94 provides that the Court or the Board shall determine the age by undertaking the process of age determination by seeking evidence by obtaining the date of birth certificate from the school, matriculation or equivalent certificate from the concerned examination Board if available, and in absence thereof and in case the certificate as given in Clause (i) above, is not available, then the birth certificate of a corporation or a municipal authority or a panchayat can be made the basis of determination of age of a juvenile. Further, in case the document(s) as given in clauses (i) (ii), above extracted, are not available, then the age shall be determined by an ossification test to be conducted on the order of the Board.

13. In the case in hand, the Board was having the matriculation certificate or equivalent certificate of the concerned examination and since they were available, there was no occasion for the Board to have gone into the other documents, such as birth certificate issued by the local bodies or even electoral roll etc.

14. The argument of the learned counsel for the revisionist that the juvenile should have been produced before the Medical Board for ossification test is mis-conceived in the light of specific provision given in Clause (iii), above extracted, which provides that age shall be determined by an ossification test to be conducted on the order of the board in case the documents as provided in Clause (i) and (ii) of Sub Section (2) of Section 94 are not produced before the Board or the Committee as the case may be. The medical test of the minor is the last measure to be adopted by the Board or the Court in case no authentic document is available before it as provided in section 94 of the Act.

33. We also remind all Courts/J.J. Board and the Committees functioning under the Act that a duty is cast on them to seek evidence by obtaining the certificate etc. mentioned in Rule 12 (3) (a) (i) to (iii). The courts in such situations act as a parens patriae because they have a kind of guardianship over minors who from their legal disability stand in need of protection.
34. "Age determination inquiry" contemplated under section 7A of the Act r/w Rule 12 of the 2007 Rules enables the court to seek evidence and in that process, the court can obtain the matriculation or equivalent certificates, if available. Only in the absence of any matriculation or equivalent certificates, the court need obtain the date of birth certificate from the school first attended other than a play school. Only in the absence of matriculation or equivalent certificate or the date of birth certificate from the school first attended, the court need obtain the birth certificate given by a corporation or a municipal authority or a panchayat (not an affidavit but certificates or documents). The question of obtaining medical opinion from a duly constituted Medical Board arises only if the above mentioned documents are unavailable. In case exact assessment of the age cannot be done, then the court, for reasons to be recorded, may, if considered necessary, give the benefit to the child or juvenile by considering his or her age on lower side within the margin of one year.