Law of Juvenile Justice in India

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 has been enacted in pursuance of the Constitution of India which mandates equal rights for children and also mandates upon the State, inter alia, to take suitable measures for protection of children. The Act deals with “Petty”, “Serious” and Heinous categories of offences. In Shilpa Mittal’s case, the Supreme Court vide judgment dated 9th January, 2020 has observed that Act of 2015 does not deal with the fourth category of offen of offences viz offence where the maximum sentence is more than seven years imprisonment, but no minimum sentence, or minimum sentence of less than seven years is provided and treated the same as “serious offences” under the Act. So far so, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2021 has been enacted with following objectives

(i) to strengthen child protection at district level by empowering District Magistrate to effectively coordinate and monitor the functions of various agencies responsible for implementation of the provisions of the Act.

(ii) it aims to empower District Magistrate including Additional District Magistrate to authorise orders of adoption, in order to address issues of delay in adoption and to propose that appeals on the orders of adoption may be preferred to Divisional Commissioner

(iii) It aims to strengthen the child welfare committee by incorporating provisions relating to educational qualifications for the members and stipulating eligibility conditions for selection of the committee.

(iv) and it also aims to categorise offence wherein the maximum sentence is more than seven years imprisonment but no minimum sentence, or a minimum sentence of less than seven years has been provided as “serious offence” under Act of 2015.

Under the modified law children who are victims of human trafficking, dowry abuse or who have been abandoned by their guardians will be included in the term “child in need of care” and protection. A serious offence, according to Section 2(54) of the Act of 2015, is one for which the required punishment is between three and seven years. The Amendment Act seeks to redefine the term “serious offences” to encompass offences that are punishable by minimum imprisonment for a term of more than seven years but no minimum.

Encompass offences that are punishable by minimum imprisonment for a term of more than seven years but no minimum.

Section 86 of the Parent Act has been amended to make non cognizable and non-bailable offences punished by three to seven years in Jail. Now, notwithstanding anything in the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 or the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005, offences under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, shall be triable by the Children’s Court, which is currently only equipped to hear cases involving crimes that carry a sentence of more then seven years in prison. So far so, other offences with a maximum sentence of less than seven years in Jail are triable by a Judicial Magistrate.

Now under the amended provisions of the Act, the District Magistrate, including the Additional District Magistrate has been empowered with the authority to effectively coordinate and monitor the duties of the numerous agencies in charge of enforcing the requirements of the principal Act. Now the District Magistrate has been given authority to supervise the District Child Protection Units and Special Juvenile Protection Units and to conduct a quarterly evaluation of the Child Welfare Committee and Juvenile Justice Board’s operations and functionings.