Supreme Court’s judgement in “Child in Conflict with Law (CCL) through his mother v. State of Karnataka” case deals with act’s provision for preliminary assessment of CCL in heinous offences.
About Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act (JJ Act) 2015
- Scope: It consolidates and amend the law relating to CCL and Child in need of Care and Protection (CCP).
- CCL means child below 18 years of age who is alleged/found to have committed an offense.
- Board: It mandates setting up Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) in every district to deal with cases of CCL.
- Preliminary Assessment: In case of heinous offences alleged to have been committed by a child above 16 years of age, JJB shall conduct a preliminary assessment to assess capacity of the child.
- After preliminary assessment, the Children’s Court may decide that whether the child can be tried as adult.
Key Highlights of Judgement
- An appeal against the preliminary assessment order of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) would be filed before the Children’s Court (not Sessions Court) wherever available.
- Also, court has prescribed 30 days time limit for preferring such appeals.
- The time period of 3 months prescribed for completion of preliminary assessment is not mandatory but merely directory in nature.