How many delinquent juveniles landed in adult jails in 5 years HC asks Delhi govt
New Delhi Dec 21 PTI The Delhi High Court has directed the AAP government here to provide information on delinquent juveniles who landed in adult jails in the last five years and were subsequently sent to the child care institutions to better understand the systemic flaws Issuing a slew of directions to streamline the functioning of the juvenile justice delivery system the high court ordered the Delhi government to fill the seven vacant posts of District Child Protection Officers within six weeks It asked the city government to state when and how many juveniles were admitted to Tihar Rohini and Mandoli jails and then transferred to the child care institutions as well as the offences allegedly committed by them The bench headed by Justice Siddharth Mridul which was dealing with various issues pertaining to the interpretation and effective implementation of some provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act sought the information To better understand the systemic flaws that lead to delinquent childrenjuveniles ending-up in adult jails to begin with we direct the Govt of NCT of Delhi to furnish to this court the number of childrenjuveniles who were transferred from adult jails to juvenile justice homeschild care institutions in the last 05 years with the details of the numbers found in Tihar Rohini and Mandoli jails respectively along with the date they were admitted and the date on which they were transferred from adult jails to juvenile justice homeschild care institutions as also the offences with which they were charged Let this information be filed before the next date of hearing by the State said the bench also comprising Justice Anup J Bhambhani in its order dated December 16 The court directed that every Juvenile Justice Board JJB shall call for an Individual Care Plan and a Rehabilitation Card of a delinquent child from the Superintendent of the concerned home and review the progress of the child once every three months and issue necessary directions in case of unsatisfactory implementation It further stated that all JJBs must ensure that the post-release plan to recommend the aftercare for such child which is required to be drawn-up two months before heshe is due to leave a child care institution is placed before the concerned JJB and the child is produced before it two months before release The JJB must vet the post-release plan and issue necessary directions for its modification monitoring and implementation the court added The court noted that several pending cases of petty offences against juveniles have been disposed of by the JJBs and Individual Care Plans have been called in many matters On October 1 the court had ordered that all cases where inquiries against minors in allegedly in petty offences before JJBs are pending and remains inconclusive for over one year stand terminated with immediate effect It had noted that as per Section 14 of the Juvenile Justice Act the inquiry in such cases shall conclude in four months from the date of first production before the board unless the period is extended for a maximum of two months The Delhi government had subsequently told the court that 898 cases of alleged petty offences against minors which were pending and remained inconclusive for over one year were closed before the JJBs The court which had earlier pulled up the Delhi government for not complying with its direction to pull-the-plug on such cases emphasised that closure was not a mere formality and the rehabilitation and care of children in conflict with law was at the core of the entire exercise The court had directed that the process of age determination of a juvenile in conflict with law shall be completed within 15 days of filing of documents and ossification test by the investigating officer of the case The matter would be heard next on January 21 PTI ADS SA
New Delhi Dec 21 PTI The Delhi High Court has directed the AAP government here to provide information on delinquent juveniles who landed in adult jails in the last five years and were subsequently sent to the child care institutions to better understand the systemic flaws Issuing a slew of directions to streamline the functioning of the juvenile justice delivery system the high court ordered the Delhi government to fill the seven vacant posts of District Child Protection Officers within six weeks It asked the city government to state when and how many juveniles were admitted to Tihar Rohini and Mandoli jails and then transferred to the child care institutions as well as the offences allegedly committed by them The bench headed by Justice Siddharth Mridul which was dealing with various issues pertaining to the interpretation and effective implementation of some provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act sought the information To better understand the systemic flaws that lead to delinquent childrenjuveniles ending-up in adult jails to begin with we direct the Govt of NCT of Delhi to furnish to this court the number of childrenjuveniles who were transferred from adult jails to juvenile justice homeschild care institutions in the last 05 years with the details of the numbers found in Tihar Rohini and Mandoli jails respectively along with the date they were admitted and the date on which they were transferred from adult jails to juvenile justice homeschild care institutions as also the offences with which they were charged Let this information be filed before the next date of hearing by the State said the bench also comprising Justice Anup J Bhambhani in its order dated December 16 The court directed that every Juvenile Justice Board JJB shall call for an Individual Care Plan and a Rehabilitation Card of a delinquent child from the Superintendent of the concerned home and review the progress of the child once every three months and issue necessary directions in case of unsatisfactory implementation It further stated that all JJBs must ensure that the post-release plan to recommend the aftercare for such child which is required to be drawn-up two months before heshe is due to leave a child care institution is placed before the concerned JJB and the child is produced before it two months before release The JJB must vet the post-release plan and issue necessary directions for its modification monitoring and implementation the court added The court noted that several pending cases of petty offences against juveniles have been disposed of by the JJBs and Individual Care Plans have been called in many matters On October 1 the court had ordered that all cases where inquiries against minors in allegedly in petty offences before JJBs are pending and remains inconclusive for over one year stand terminated with immediate effect It had noted that as per Section 14 of the Juvenile Justice Act the inquiry in such cases shall conclude in four months from the date of first production before the board unless the period is extended for a maximum of two months The Delhi government had subsequently told the court that 898 cases of alleged petty offences against minors which were pending and remained inconclusive for over one year were closed before the JJBs The court which had earlier pulled up the Delhi government for not complying with its direction to pull-the-plug on such cases emphasised that closure was not a mere formality and the rehabilitation and care of children in conflict with law was at the core of the entire exercise The court had directed that the process of age determination of a juvenile in conflict with law shall be completed within 15 days of filing of documents and ossification test by the investigating officer of the case The matter would be heard next on January 21 PTI ADS SA
