16 year olds to be tried as adults for heinous crimes
Bisheshwar Mishra / AMN //
After thought provoking debate, the Rajya Sabha today passed the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Bill. The legislation was passed by the Lok Sabha earlier. The juvenile age has now been lowered from 18 to 16.The legislation aims at ensuring proper care, protection, development and social reintegration of children in difficult circumstances by adopting a child-friendly approach. Moving the Bill for passage, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said the increasing number of crimes committed by children in the age group of 16 to 18 makes it evident that the current provisions under the juvenile justice law are inadequate to tackle child offenders.
She sought support from all parties for the legislation which intends to deter the juveniles from committing a crime like the Nirbhaya murder in December 2012. The Minister regretted while nothing could be done about the juvenile convict in the Nirbhaya case, efforts can be made now to deter many other boys in the 16 to 18 age group to commit such a crime. Explaining the nuances of the Bill, Mrs. Maneka Gandhi said no juvenile will be sent to the jail directly. There will be experts and psychologists to first decide whether the crime committed has been child-like or it was committed in an adult frame of mind.
A juvenile committing a heinous crime will be sent to a borstal and not a jail until he attains the age of 21 years. Afterwards, there will be a review. She made it clear that he will be kept away from hardened criminals. Asked about the definition of heinous crimes, the Minister said these include murder, rape, acid attack and kidnapping followed by murder.
The CPI(M) and DMK wanted the Bill to be referred to the Select Committee for a broad discussion. But Deputy Chairman P.J.Kurien said no motion has been received for this. Hence, he would go ahead with the passage of the Bill. Not satisfied, the CPIM members staged a walkout.