Imagine you just got off work or you have planned to go out with your family for a dinner or a movie, and while coming back home, an irresponsible juvenile rider or a driver injures you or even worse? What are the legal consequences of the same against the juvenile? What repressions must be done? Let's navigate the complexities of Juvenile Crimes.
So, when you hear the word Juvenile, I am sure the one case that must come to your mind would be the Pune Car Crash case. Well, you will be surprised to know that unfortunately that is just one case among the thousands.
Before we dive into the legalities of the same, let me provide you a glimpse of what all has been happening around India when it comes to the offences committed by minors. Juvenile delinquency is definitely a serious and multidimensional problem which is on the rise lately. Involvement of juveniles in any kind of unlawful act is indeed unfortunate, because they belong the most productive age group of life. However, Juveniles were found to be involved in most heinous of the crimes such as Murder, Gang Rape, Drunk Driving etc.
India has seen an awful rise in the number of crimes committed by Minors in the past decade. The NCRB data shows that the highest number of crimes committed by juveniles was reported by Maharashtra (4,406), followed by Madhya Pradesh (3,795) and Rajasthan (3,063). However, the rate of crimes has gone up to 42% in Delhi while it is 12% in Maharashtra and 13% in Madhya Pradesh.
Lately, we have seen various examples of crimes committed by Minors and one such example is the Pune Porsche Crash case. Here, two engineers were killed after a speeding Porsche being driven by a 17-year-old teen knocked down their motorcycle. This case gained nationwide attention due to multiple reasons such as the teen being under the influence of alcohol, driving without a license and over speeding.
Another spine-chilling incident took place in Madhya Pradesh, where allegedly a 15-year-old girl murdered her family members, and later chopped her father's body with the help of her 19-year-old boyfriend, since her father did not approve of her relationship.
One more horrifying incident took place in Mumbai, where a 13-year-old boy was booked for raping and impregnating his 15-year-old sister. Inspired by local crime shows, 3 minors killed their 12-year-old friend in MP’s Seon. In April 2024, a Minor girl had stabbed her neighbour to death over water dispute. Such mind-boggling incidents make these minors a Child in conflict with law.
A Child in Conflict with Law (CCL) is defined under Section 2(13) of the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2015 as a child who is alleged or found to have committed an offence and who has not completed eighteen years of age on the date of commission of offence.
Now the question is that how does the legal system address and handle minors who commit serious and grave crimes?
Initially, we had Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000 which later was replaced due to the involvement of a minor in committing heinous acts in the Nirbhaya gang rape case. Before looking at the aftermaths of this landmark case regarding juvenile justice, let’s understand how the law treated the minor accused in this particular case which shook the entire nation.
Out of the 6 accused, 4 were hanged to death, however the one accused who happened to be a minor was released after serving three years in a reformation home. This treatment led to nation-wide outrage. The juvenile’s case was one of the most debated topics across the country as citizens had demanded that the juvenile rapist be tried in the case an adult since it was a heinous crime.
Due to the public outcry, the possibility of booking juveniles as adults in case of a heinous crime emerged. Subsequently, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 was passed on the recommendations of Justice Verma Committee in which juveniles in the age group of 16–18, involved in heinous offences, can be tried as adults.
Now let’s see that under what circumstances a juvenile can be treated as an Adult.
Any juvenile between the age of 16-18 years who has committed a heinous offence can be tried as an adult on performing of a psychological assessment wherein the mental and the physical capacity to commit a crime by the offender is decided. Therefore, there is no straight jacket condition and the trial of a juvenile as an adult is subjective in nature depending upon the assessment. There are certain factors that are taken into consideration before ascertaining a minor to be treated as an adult which are as follows:
Preliminary assessment for a period of three months to assess the child's capacity to commit the crime.
The Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 (JJ Act, 2015) allows a Juvenile Justice Board, which includes psychologists and sociologists, to decide whether a juvenile criminal in the age group of 16-18 should tried as an adult or not.
Looking into the special needs of the child, under the tenet of fair trial under a child-friendly atmosphere.
Conclusion
While the Indian legal system is steadily evolving to keep pace with societal changes, several challenges persist in implementing and fully integrating the revised principles and provisions within the trial system. Despite the inclusion of various principles in the law, they often don't receive the attention they deserve from the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) and the Children’s Court. As lawyers—often referred to as social engineers—we have the power to effect change within the legal system by leveraging our knowledge and speaking out against injustices prevailing in the society.
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