juvenile justice
The new Juvenile Justice Act 2015 came into force last month, paving the way for juveniles aged 16 to 18 to be tried under adult laws for heinous crimes.
A major challenge now will be to establish the age of juveniles, which will not be easy because no more than 56.2% of India’s births were registered in 2000, according to the Civil Registration System.
This means the ages of teenagers born in 2000 could be uncertain. For instance, juveniles presumed to be aged 16 or older, based on school certificates, might actually be 15. Economically disadvantaged children, currently aged between 15 and 18 based on official records or school certificates, are at maximum risk.
Read more at IndiaSpend.
The passage of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Bill, 2015 in the Rajya Sabha unanimously on 21 December was an event that Dalits across the country were aspiring for.
The Delhi high court today issued notice to the central government on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s plea against the release of the juvenile convict in the 16 December, 2012 gang-rape and sought an IB report about him having been radicalised.
A division bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice RS Endlaw asked the government to give the IB report in a sealed cover and posted the matter for hearing on Monday.
The juvenile, who was under 18 when arrested for brutal rape and murder of a para-medical student on 16 December, 2012, was tried under the Juvenile Justice Act. He was ordered to be kept in a remand home for three years.
The juvenile is set to be released on 15 December. The (Intelligence Bureau) IB had raised suspicion of the juvenile being radicalised after being shifted with a juvenile apprehended for the Delhi high court blasts.
SC Juvenile home committee: The CJI has asked all high court CJs to appoint a judge each to inspect the functioning of state juvenile homes. At the Supreme Court level, the CJI has nominated Justice Madan Lokur as Chairperson of the Juvenile Committee for effective implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. This committee is a debut effort from the SC after a large number of complaints about maintenance at these homes [Hindu/NDTV]
Judge rejig: Manipur HC CJ AM Sapre will replace Gauhati HC CJ who will assume the post of a judge at the Orissa HC on 24 October. Gauhati HC will get Karnataka HC’s justice KS Rao and its own additional judge PK Saikia as a permanent judge; Manipur HC will get Allahabad HC justice LK Mohapatra; The tenure of 4 Delhi additional judges has been extended [PTI]
Law university stepchild: The University of Pune remains a paper proposal seven years after it first came to be, even as neighbouring Nagpur has been successful in winning the mandate to launch the country’s 15th national law university [TOI]
Rightful electricity: The Madras High Court has declared that denial of power supply to any person will be considered as a violation of fundamental human rights, on the petition of a group of washermen who were denied power supply in their residence on unauthorised land [India TV News]
More Orissa judges needed: Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik has written to law minister Sibal asking him to increase the Orissa HC’s approved judge strength from 22 judges to 27 [Odisha Today]
Neglected juveniles: Delhi HC directs that all Delhi jails will have a welfare officer, after noting that only 5 Delhi jails out of 11 have them. The absence of welfare officers and one social worker to work with each Special Juvenile Police Unit in the city has led to imprisonment of juvenile offenders in adult jails [Express]
Judge on marriage U/A: Karnataka HC justice K Sreedhar Rao observes that movies and IPL cricket matches are ruining the lives of youth who are not mature enough to be married at the current legally marriageable age of 18 for girls and 21 for boys. He considers raising the age limits while hearing two habeas corpus petitions to produce girls who had eloped with boys [NIE]
White collar advocates: Supreme Court justice BS Chauhan says: “India has become a haven for white collar criminals, who are advocated by ‘giant’ lawyers. If quality justice cannot be ensured to people, it is better to abolish the judicial system” [HT]
Taping court trials: Law minister Kapil Sibal to discuss audio recording options for trial court proceedings, with chief justices of high courts across the country. Sibal said: “In other countries, proceedings of trial courts are audio-recorded but not in India.... What the judge is saying, witness is saying, cross examination is saying, how work is taking place, nobody knows although the courts are public places.” [HT]