Raipur: Chhattisgarh HC has dismissed a juvenile’s appeal for bail in a 2025 murder case, saying such relief can’t be treated as an absolute or automatic rig-ht and release will “defeat the ends of justice” given the gravity of the offence.Justice Arvind Kumar Verma upheld earlier orders of Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) and a sessions court in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari, and held the HC was “not convinced” that a juvenile could claim bail without courts examining the nature of the offence.“JJB and the sessions court rightly prioritised child protection over routine bail in a heinous offence like murder. Such acts amount to a grave rupture of social order, violate the inherent dignity of childhood, and demand collective vigilance to restore moral balance,” Justice Verma observed in his Feb 13 judgment.The minor filed the criminal revision plea under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, challenging the order of the sessions court on Oct 31, 2025 rejecting bail. He allegedly stabbed Vikas Dhruv in Dhamtari following an altercation on June 6 last year.The minor’s counsel argued that the lower courts had failed to appreciate the reformative spirit of the 2015 law, and continued detention in an observation home would expose him to criminal influence. The counsel said the attack occurred in self-defence and that the accused had no prior criminal records and came from a poor family.Govt counsel Vivek Sharma contended that the lower courts had properly assessed the evidence, highlighting the serious nature of the crime.