A Parliamentary Standing Committee has taken on board civil society’s apprehensions of treating 16-to-18-year-olds as adults in cases of heinous crimes, and called for a review of this provision in The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014, introduced in the Lok Sabha in August.
This amendment to the JJ Act is among the slew of changes that the UPA Government had initiated in various laws of the country following the huge public outcry over the Delhi gang rape.
A juvenile was among the accused and the brutality of his actions prepared the ground for proposing differential treatment to juveniles in the 16-18 age group in case of heinous crimes.
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data showing significant increase in the number of children apprehended for heinous crimes in this age-group was cited to buttress the Government’s contention.
The committee on HRD submitted its report in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
