Special children's law prevails over general criminal procedure unless clear repugnancy exists; ordinary trial could not stand.

A special local children's law continues to govern children below sixteen accused of murder punishable with death or life imprisonment unless there is a clear contrary intention in later Central legislation and an irreconcilable repugnancy. The Haryana Children Act, 1974 provided a special scheme with children's courts, special inquiry and trial procedures, and a bar on sentencing a delinquent child to death or life imprisonment. Section 27 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was treated as a general procedural provision that could operate alongside the State Act. The child was therefore entitled to be dealt with under the Haryana Children Act, and the ordinary criminal trial and sentence could not stand.

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Issues: Whether a child below sixteen years of age, charged with murder punishable with death or imprisonment for life, was entitled to the protection of the Haryana Children Act, 1974 notwithstanding Section 27 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

Analysis: The Haryana Children Act created a special scheme for children, including exclusive children's courts, special treatment in inquiry and trial, and a prohibition against sentencing a delinquent child to death or imprisonment for life. The Act also contained a saving and overriding structure for proceedings under it, while Section 27 of the Code merely enabled trial of certain children by a Chief Judicial Magistrate or a court specially empowered under a Children Act. The provisions were held capable of co-existence, and Section 27 was not treated as a specific provision overriding the special local law. In the absence of irreconcilable conflict, Article 254 was not attracted and the special State Act continued to govern the trial of delinquent children.

Conclusion: The child was entitled to be dealt with under the Haryana Children Act, 1974, and the conviction, sentence, and trial under the ordinary criminal process could not stand.

Ratio Decidendi: A special local children's law is not displaced by a general procedural provision unless the later Central law contains a clear contrary intention and an irreconcilable repugnancy exists; where both can operate together, the special law continues to apply.

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