A person born on 14 January 2007 allegedly commits ordinary first-offence theft of property worth ₹10,000 on 14 January 2025, in India. Which trial forum does the First Schedule to the Bharatiya…

Under section 3(2) of the Majority Act, 1875, the day of birth is counted as a whole day and a person is deemed to attain majority at the beginning of the eighteenth anniversary of that day, so on 14 January 2025 the person had completed eighteen years. A “child” under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 is a person who has not completed eighteen years on the date of the offence, so the Juvenile Justice Board has no jurisdiction. Theft under section 303(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 is shown in the First Schedule to the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 as triable by any Magistrate, which does not include an Executive Magistrate; it is not limited to a Judicial Magistrate of the first class or to the Court of Session.