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SC refuses to bring down juvenile age from 18 to 16 New Delhi, July 17 It cited the absence of data in support of this contention and the need for re-integrating them into mainstream society instead of letting them become hardened criminals. “In the absence of any proper data, it would not be wise on our part to deviate from the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000 which represent the collective wisdom of Parliament,” a three-member Bench headed by outgoing Chief Justice Altamas Kabir held. The Bench delivered the verdict on seven PILs filed in the wake of the gruesome gang rape and murder of a physiotherapy student by six persons, including a juvenile aged 17.5, in a moving bus in Delhi in December 2012. The apex court also did not accept a plea to treat at least those charged with heinous crimes such as rape, murder and dacoity like any other criminals without giving them the benefits available under the Juvenile Justice Act. Under the juvenile law, criminal cases relating to those below the age of 18 are sent to the Juvenile Justice Board, instead of the regular criminal courts, and the offenders are sent to correction homes, instead of jails, for a maximum of three years.Acknowledging that the Delhi gang rape was not only gruesome but almost maniacal in its content, the Bench however said: “Such an incident, in comparison to the vast number of crimes occurring in India, makes it an aberration rather than the rule.” “If what has come out from the reports of the Crimes Record Bureau is true, then the number of crimes committed by juveniles comes to about two per cent of the country’s crime rate,” it observed. Even the committee headed by former Chief Justice of India JS Verma, which had gone into the 2000 Act as amended in 2006 following a public outcry over the gang rape, had noted that its provisions “are based on sound principles recognized internationally” and were in accordance with the Constitution, the SC pointed out in the 60-page judgment. The other members of the Bench were Justices SS Nijjar and J Chelameswar. The Bench further noted that the age of 18 had been fixed on account of the understanding of experts in child psychology and behavioural patterns that till such an age the children in conflict with law could still be redeemed and restored to mainstream society. The Dec 16 trigger
* The Bench delivered the verdict on seven PILs filed in the wake of the gruesome gang rape of a physiotherapy student by five persons, including a juvenile aged 17 *
Under the juvenile law, criminal cases relating to those below the age of 18 are sent to the Juvenile Justice Board, instead of the regular criminal courts
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