Adil Lateef
Srinagar, Dec 9: Flo-uting High Court directions, Government has not constituted Justice Juvenile Board (JJB) in the State even as six months have passed since the Social Welfare Minister announced in J&K Legislature that the Board shall be constituted within two months.
Last year in December, the State High Court while observing that Juvenile Justice Act was not implemented on ground in the State had asked the Government to constitute Juvenile Justice Boards by February 2, 2016. It had urged the Government to implement provisions of Jammu and Kashmir Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2013 so that the Act serves the purpose for which it has been framed.
Later again this year, the High Court directed the then Commissioner/ Secretary Social Welfare Department to inform it about setting up of Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) in the State by next date of hearing. However, the Government paid no heed to the Court directions and since then has not constituted the Board till date.
The Social Welfare Minister, Sajjad Lone, on the floor of Legislative Council (LC) during Budget session in June this year said that the process of setting up Juvenile Justice Board has been set in motion and its establishment may take one or two months. But, as of now, the JJB has not been established by the State Government despite the fact that scores of juveniles have been arrested on various charges in the wake of unrest.
According to Child Line – a project sponsored by Ministry of Women and Child Development- Juveniles accused of a crime or detained for a crime are brought before the JJB under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act). Under this act and provisions of the Criminal Code Procedure, children are not to be taken to a regular criminal court.
“The purpose of a separate court is that its purpose is socio-legal rehabilitation and reformation not punishment. The aim is to hold a child culpable for their criminal activity, not through punishment, but counselling the child to understand their actions and persuade them away from criminal activities in the future,” the Child Line stated.
However, in absence of JJB, the juveniles in Jammu and Kashmir are produced before the regular criminal courts. Lawyers in Srinagar said that hundreds of juveniles in Kashmir have been booked under regular First Information Reports (FIRs) and scores of them have been detained in police stations and district jails. At least a dozen juveniles have already been booked under Public Safety Act (PSA).
An official said that the setting up of the Board is closely linked with the release of funds under Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) and nomination of various Government/non-governmental nominees. Although the State had enacted the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act in 2013 but the JJB is yet to be set up even after the passage of three years.
Secretary, Social Welfare Department, Sajad Ahmad Khan, when contacted, told Excelsior that the process to set up the JJB is underway. “I cannot tell you exact date of constituting the Board but the process is underway and it would be soon completed,” he said, adding: “once the Board is constituted, we will share further details with you.”
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