[LST] SC had settled issue of ‘adult’ in juvenile home - The Times of India on Mobile

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02 Sep 2013, 06:38AM IST
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SC had settled issue of 'adult' in juvenile home
Smriti Singh,TNN | Sep 1, 2013, 05.41AM IST
NEW DELHI: With the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) sending the Nirbhaya
case juvenile accused—now an adult — to a reformatory home, the debate
surrounding the fact that he cannot be kept in a reformatory home for
minors as the JJ Act does not allow adults to be kept with juveniles
has been put to rest.

Just a month before the JJB verdict, an order passed by Supreme Court
helped in clearing the doubts surrounding the status of the juvenile
before the law and where he could be kept once he attained majority.
While deciding the writ petition which sought bringing down the age of
the juvenile to 16 years, Supreme Court had also dealt with the issue
of the provision to keep a person in a juvenile home after he attains
majority during the pendency of his trial.

"One misunderstanding of the law relating to the sentencing of
juveniles needs to be corrected. The general understanding of a
sentence that can be awarded to a juvenile under Section 15 (1)( g) of
the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000,
prior to its amendment in 2006, is that after attaining the age of 18
years, a juvenile who is found guilty of a heinous offence is allowed
to go free...It was generally perceived that a juvenile was free to
go, even if he had committed a heinous crime, when he ceased to be a
juvenile," observed the bench, which was presided over by the then
Chief Justice of India , Altmas Kabir.

The bench said that the "understanding" of the situation needed to be
clarified in the light of the 2006 amendment in the JJ Act. "The
amendment now makes it clear that even if a juvenile attains the age
of 18 years within a period of one year, he would still have to
undergo a sentence of three years, which could spill beyond the period
of one year when he attained majority," the bench observed in its July
17 order.

This clarification by the apex court settles the debate as well as the
law surrounding the juvenile delinquent, who attain majority during
the pendency of the trial.

Earlier, if found involved in the crime after he turned 18, a juvenile
could not be kept in the juvenile correction home or any other
reformatory home for minors as the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act did not
allow adults to be kept with juveniles in correction homes. At the
same time, the juvenile who had attained majority could not be
transferred to Tihar Jail as the law did not allow such persons tried
under the JJ Act to be kept in jail meant for adults.
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Saurav Datta

Twitter: SauravDatta29


"To those who believe in resistance, who live between hope and
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who understand enough to be afraid and yet retain their fury."

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