Rajya Sabha passes Juvenile Justice bill

The Indian parliament has passed a bill which allows juveniles between 16 and 18 years of age to be tried as adults for serious crimes like rape or murder.

“I am happy that everyone supported the Juvenile Justice Bill and want to thank everyone”, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said after the passage of the Bill.

Today’s measure came amid a public campaign in favour of the bill, led by the victim’s parents, protesting the discharge of the juvenile convict in the case who was handed three years’ detention while his adult accomplices were sentenced to death.

Asking whether victims should be protected or the rapists, she said it was important to pass the Juvenile Justice Bill because of the seriousness of the crimes committed by some juveniles.

“If required, the session may be extended till the bill is passed. It will be done irrespective of the bill goes through or not”, she said in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

The Bill permits juveniles between the ages of 16-18 years to be tried as adults for heinous offences. “Asha Devi and Badrinath, the parents of the victim Jyoti Singh, were present in the visitors” gallery when the Bill was passed.

The Bill proposes the setting up of Juvenile Justice Boards and Child Welfare Committees in every district.

He argued: “After passing the law, if somebody aged 15 years and 11 months commits such a heinous crime again, what will be the response?” Of recorded cognisable crimes in India in 2014, 1.2% were committed by juveniles.

“By releasing the juvenile convict in this case, authorities had given out a wrong message but the new law will deter juveniles from committing heinous crimes against women”, said the father, Badri Singh Pandey. “This law will not be applicable in retrospective”, he said, which means it will not be applicable on the rape convict who has already been freed. “Care and protection must be provided to all children up to the age of 18”, he said, adding that the protection framework provided under this law is extremely robust. “All parties are of the view that the bill should be passed”.

He was put in a remand home for three years, the maximum permissible under the legal provisions.

“We share your concern”, the apex court’s vacation bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit said, dismissing the Delhi Commission for Women’s plea and observing that “everything has to be in accordance with law, we have to enforce law”. At the same time, taking into account that India is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child, the amended law has put in place safeguards that ensure that members in this age group are not unduly targeted.