The Juvenile Justice (Amendment) Bill 2015 has been passed in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday amid the walk out protest by the Left parties. This bill was introduced in the Parliament by Maneka Gandhi, Minister of Women and Child Development in August 2014, and it was passed in Lok Sabha in May this year and it will become law once it gets approval from the President of India.
The demand for this bill came up as among the six rapists of Nirbhaya murder case, one was a juvenile and despite the fact that he was the cruelest of all, he served the lowest punishment, getting the benefit of being juvenile. He has been released just couple of days back which led to nationwide protests to pass this bill as soon as possible. The parents of Nirbhaya were also present in the court while the bill was passed.
Let us take a look at the main points of the bill:
- As per the bill the new age for juveniles will be 16 years and not 18 years.
- The bill allows juveniles of 16 years or older to be sent for trial as adults if they are part of heinous crimes like rape and murder and can be sentenced for seven years or more.
- The will be a Juvenile Justice Board and Child Welfare Committee in every district and it will comprise of minimum one woman member, a judicial magistrate and two social workers. It will be the sole discretion of Juvenile Justice Board, whether to send a juvenile of 16 years or more to rehabilitation or for a trial as an adult.
- Provisions have been made for children ‘in conflict with law’ and ‘in need of care and protection.’ The bill also aims that such children should get basic needs ‘through proper care, protection, development, treatment, social re-integration, by adopting a child-friendly approach.’
- It also aims that any judgement given on a juvenile should be in juvenile’s best interest.
- It violates the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which says that kids under 18 yrs should be treated same.
- The bill also talks about the adoption of children and it also defines eligibility criteria for the adoptive parents and there should be a central adoptive resource agency for making rules of adoption and these rules should be implemented by the agencies of state and district level.
- The bill violates Article 14 (right to equality) and Article 21 (laws fair and reasonable for all). It will also violate Article 20(1) if the higher penalty has to be proposed for the same crime and the concerned person is apprehended after 21.
Did you know these things about the new Juvenile Justice Bill?
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