Question

Read the following statements and choose the correct option. Statement I: Ossification test is the final test to analyze bone fusion for estimating the age of a juvenile as per law. Statement II: Statutory documents like a birth certificate will be given precedence to determine the juvenile. In the context of the above statements under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, which one of the following options is correct?

• A. Only Statement II is true
• B. Both Statements I and II are false
• C. Both Statements I and II are true
• D. Only Statement I is true

Hint:

Age Determination Hierarchy: (1) Birth Certificate / Matriculation Certificate > (2) Municipal Birth Record > (3) Ossification Test (as a last resort). Never mistake the medical test for the primary evidence!

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

This question can be tested by scoring each statement independently before combining the results.

Test 1, Statement I:
Ask whether the ossification test is truly the final, conclusive test for age. It is not, it is a supporting medical estimate that produces an age range and is relied upon mainly in the absence of reliable documents, so Statement I fails this test and is false.

Test 2, Statement II:
Ask whether statutory documents like a birth certificate get precedence. They do, the recognised hierarchy for age determination places documents such as a school or municipal birth certificate above a medical test like ossification, so Statement II passes and is true.

Conclusion:
Combining the two individual results, false for Statement I and true for Statement II, gives exactly the combination described as only Statement II being true.

\[ \boxed{\text{Only Statement II is true}} \]

Answer 2

The law's approach to determining a juvenile's age is built around a purpose: relying first on records that are objective and hard to manipulate, and turning to medical estimation only when such records are missing. Measuring each option against that purpose clarifies which combination of statements is correct.

1. Only Statement II is true: Preferring documents like a birth certificate over a bone-based medical test serves the purpose of certainty, since documents tend to be more precise than a test that only yields an age range. Statement I, by calling the ossification test the final test, actually inverts that purpose, so Statement I is false.
2. Both Statements I and II are false: Rejecting the preference for documents described in Statement II would undercut the very purpose of favoring certainty over approximation.
3. Both Statements I and II are true: Treating the ossification test as final, alongside accepting that documents get precedence, is self-contradictory.
4. Only Statement I is true: Elevating the ossification test to the final word on age while denying that documents get precedence reverses the intended hierarchy.

Only the combination in which Statement I is false and Statement II is true respects the purpose of favoring reliable documents over an approximate medical test.

Therefore, the correct answer is Only Statement II is true.