The differentiation between adults and juveniles must be kept.
The age of juvenility in India used to be 16 years, but after much to-and-fro and looking at various factors from, the age was raised to 18. That should not be changed.
But, I’m not against prolonging the stay of juveniles in an institution. We will be moving an amendment to the Juvenile Justice Act to give the Juvenile Justice Board the power to review each case and decide to extend the period of stay at the observation home if required.
With respect to the December 16 case, the Delhi High Court was duty-bound to uphold the JJ Act and deny the extension of the juvenile’s stay. Given the brutality of the crime and the fact that the person spent only three years in the home, certainly there is strong case for supervision and monitoring of his whereabouts. He cannot be put in an adult jail and at present the law doesn’t allow an extension of the stay. One possible solution can be a half-way house, but we have to set up that infrastructure.
As it stands today, you can’t tinker with the law or tinker with the processes.
(As told to Damini Nath)
