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.

• 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:

For juvenile age determination, documentary evidence always takes precedence over medical tests such as ossification tests.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Age determination for a juvenile matters a great deal because it decides whether a person is tried as a child or as an adult, so the law is careful about which kind of evidence it trusts most.

1. Statement I, calling the ossification test the final test: bone fusion happens over a range of years and differs from person to person depending on nutrition, health and genetics, so a radiologist examining an X-ray can only give an estimated range, not a single conclusive figure; because of this built-in uncertainty, the law never treats it as the final word on age, making Statement I inaccurate.
2. Statement II, giving precedence to statutory documents: a birth certificate or school admission record is created at or near the time of birth for an independent purpose and is far less prone to error than a bone scan taken years later, which is why authorities are directed to rely on such documents first and only turn to a medical test when no document is available; this makes Statement II accurate.

Putting these together, the unreliable, approximate nature of the ossification test rules out Statement I, while the settled preference for documentary proof supports Statement II.

The correct answer is only Statement II is true.

Answer 2

Another way to approach this is to imagine what would happen in practice if each statement, taken on its own, were the operating rule, and check whether that outcome matches how age disputes are actually resolved.

1. Only Statement II is true: if the practice relies first on birth certificates and similar documents and uses the ossification test only as a last resort when documents are missing or doubtful, that is exactly the practical approach followed in age determination proceedings, so this combination is consistent with how such cases are actually handled.
2. Both Statements I and II are false: if this were so, documents would carry no special weight either, yet in practice a certified birth record is regularly accepted as decisive proof of age without needing any medical test, so this option cannot be true.
3. Both Statements I and II are true: if the ossification test were truly final, then even where a valid birth certificate exists, authorities would still need a bone test to confirm age, which is not how these cases proceed since a genuine document is treated as sufficient on its own.
4. Only Statement I is true: if this were the rule, a bone test could override a valid birth certificate, which would produce inconsistent and unreliable outcomes and is not the approach that is followed.

Checking the practical outcome against each combination shows that documents being given precedence, and the ossification test being only an approximate fallback, is the position that actually holds.

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