Present Juvenile Justice System in India

 PRESENT JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN INDIA

“India had made legal provisions that especially and specifically deals with the rights and protection of juvenile offenders which seeks to tackle the problem of juvenile delinquency. The Juvenile Justice System in India is made on the basis of three main assumptions:”

i. Trial for child in “conflict with law”  should be based on non-penal treatment through the communities based upon the social control agencies for e.g. “Observation Homes”   and “Special Homes”. 

ii. young offenders should not be tried in courts, rather they should be corrected in all the best possible ways,

iii. they should not be punished by the courts, but they should get a chance to reform

JUVENILE JUSTICE ACT, 2015

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 is a complete Code in itself and has overriding effect on all Central and State Legislatures on the trial of offences committed by the children on any criminal charge. Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, are applicable to all matters concerning children in need of care and protection and children in conflict with law, including 

“Procedures and decisions or orders relating to rehabilitation, adoption, re-integration, and restoration of children in need of care and protection, and

Apprehension, detention, prosecution, penalty or imprisonment, rehabilitation and social re-integration of children in conflict with law.” 

“The words “notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force” in section 1(4) and section 4(1) has overridden the provisions of section 27 of the Criminal Procedure Code.”  Section 14, read with section 15 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, provides for preliminary assessment of mental and physical capacity of the child above 16 years who has allegedly committed a heinous offence and of his ability to understand the consequences of the offence and the circumstances in which he has committed the alleged offence. If it thinks that he needs to be tried as an adult, it may order transfer of his trial to the Children’s Court (established under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005) for trial.

CLAIM OF JUVENILITY

“The “claim of juvenility” is the first and most contentious issue among the legal fraternity and socialists. The Juvenile Justice Board will rule on the assertion of juvenility. The Board must rule on the claim of juvenility prior to the court proceedings, but the claim of juvenility can be brought before the court at any point during the proceedings, even after the Board has resolved the matter.” 

In case of Deoki Nandan Dayma v. State of Uttar Pradesh  the court held that entry in the register of school mentioning the date of birth of student is admissible evidence in determining the age of juvenile or to show that whether the accused is juvenile or child.

In case of Krishna Bhagwan v. State of Bihar  the court stated that for the purpose of trial under Juvenile Justice Board, the relevant date for the considering the age of juvenile should be on which the offence has been committed.

Present Juvenile System in India by Velanati Jyothirmai @ Lex Cliq