Delhi HC pulls up authorities for not closing 1,000 juvenile-related cases

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup J Bhambhani noted that the state has also not complied with its direction to inform it about the number of cases where inquiries are pending in each Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) for six months to one year

The Delhi high court on Tuesday pulled up the authorities for not taking steps to close around 1000 cases related to petty crimes allegedly committed by children or juveniles in which enquiries have been pending for more than a year.

During the hearing, the Delhi government showed a chart to the court where there was a difference of 409 minors in the number of juveniles produced before the JJB and those released thereafter. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Petty crimes under Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act are defined as those which entail a maximum imprisonment up to three years. These include offences such as assault, causing simple hurt, theft, forgery etc.

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup J Bhambhani noted that the state has also not complied with its direction to inform it about the number of cases where inquiries are pending in each Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) for six months to one year, along with the date of institution of the inquiry and of the first production in each case.

When the court was informed that the government was waiting as some amendment was going on in the Rules and 10 days time was sought to produce juveniles before the JJBs, the bench observed, “Children can’t wait. Juveniles can’t wait. You take as much time as you want but children cannot be put on hold.”

During the hearing, the Delhi government showed a chart to the court where there was a difference of 409 minors in the number of juveniles produced before the JJB and those released thereafter.

“Where are these 409 juveniles? They have fallen through the cracks. These 409 (minors) will be lost in the system. We shudder to think what awaits us. What is happening? What happened to these 409 and where are they?” it asked.

The bench further said the government’s conduct was not satisfactory and the court’s September 29 judgment, which said the child must be produced before the JJB within 24 hours of becoming a subject of processes under the JJ Act, was clear and had no ambiguity.

“You should follow “Alice in the Wonderland” which says that if everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does,” it said.

The court granted Delhi government a week’s time to file an affidavit elaborating the steps taken by them to comply with its previous order.

When the court asked when will all the juveniles, allegedly involved in petty offences and against whom inquires are pending, be produced before the JJB, the government counsel said it will be done in 10 days.

“You should have done it by now. We are surprised with what JJBs are doing. Are they not aware of our order? They must comply with our order. By now, the JJB should have directed the police to produce all juveniles before the board,” the bench said.

“We can understand the executive is finding it difficult to comply with our order but we cannot understand why JJB is finding it difficult to comply with our order. We cannot turn a blind eye to it,” it added.

When the government counsel said the court’s September 29 order has been a boon, the bench shot back saying the order has not yet been complied with and how can it be a boon to anyone.

The court said the authorities cannot take the ground of COVID-19 pandemic for not producing the juveniles before the JJB within 24 hours and said when policing did not stop in the pandemic, it must also do all the documentation work.

Senior advocate H S Phoolka, amicus curiae in the matter, said the bench may direct the registrar of the court to send the order to the JJBs for ensuring compliance.