RS passes Bill reducing juvenile age to 16 for heinous crimes

However, Justice Board will first decide whether crime was "child-like" or was committed in "adult frame of mind"

Amid a public outcry and an appeal by the parents of the December 16 gang-rape victim, the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, which will ensure that from now on 16-year olds involved in heinous crimes will be prosecuted as adults.

The Congress and the Trinamool Congress who till last week had demanded that this crucial Bill be sent to a select committee withdrew their demand, while Left parties, Samajwadi Party,  Nationalist Congress Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam stuck to their guns. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) staged a walkout. Parents of the December 16 gang-rape victim watched the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha from the visitors' gallery

Speaking in favour of the Bill, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad admitted that not just the public but political parties were divided on the issue.

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said, “juvenile crime is the fastest rising segment of crime” and justified the move to amend the Juvenile Justice Act and asserted that the present Bill was the “most compassionate” Bill. Attempting to dispel the concerns of members, the minister said no juvenile would be sent to the jail directly and the experts and psychologists of the Justice Board will first decide whether the crime committed has been "child-like" or was it committed in an "adult frame of mind". Gandhi said the juveniles would still have the power to appeal even if a court decides that they will go to an adult jail.

While CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury appealed to the House to send the Bill to a select committee and pointed out that the Bill could not be applied with retrospective effect, Trinamool Congress’ Derek O’ Brien insisted that the Bill was “not ideal but a good Bill” and should be passed.

SP’s Ravi Prakash Verma drew the House’s attention to the abysmal condition of detention centres, remand homes and the inadequate rehabilitation system for juvenile crimes.

JD(U)’s Kehkeshen Parveen who was also a former Bihar women commission chief wanted to know how the government, despite being a signatory to the UN Charter of Rights of the Child, was reducing the age of juvenile criminality from 18 to 16 years. Rather than enacting a law she urged the government to focus on education, prevention and bridging the disparities in the society.