Juvenile Justice Board, its functioning comes under SC scanner

The functioning of Juvenile Justice Boards across the country came under scrutiny of the Supreme Court which today sought complete details on the pendency of cases, frequency of its sittings, vacancy of posts and other related issues.
The court also stressed on the issue of methodology of training imparted to legal aid lawyers, saying the absence of this should invite the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) to rise to the occasion.
"Else, we ask NALSA to devise the training programme with consultation of stakeholders (police, lawyers etc)," a special Social Justice Bench of Justices M B Lokur and U U Lalit said while posting the matter in July.

The Bench, which was hearing a PIL seeking proper implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act and its rules, asked the Centre, state governments and NALSA to apprise it about the exact number of Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) functioning in the districts across all states.
It instructed the concerned authorities to coordinate and submit data on the pendency of cases involving juveniles and frequency of JJB sittings.
The apex court also sought details of the number of vacant posts in the JJBs, as well as the number of legal aid lawyers and probation officers working in such boards.
The court's directions came on the petition which was filed in 2005 by petitioner Sampurna Behrua about the government's apathy in implementing the welfare legislation.