Juvenile Justice Board wants police to release detainees from police stations amid Covid-19 lockdown

The Supreme Court on April 3 had instructed that juveniles in detention homes be sent back to their families amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown.

The Gautam Budh Nagar juvenile justice board (JJB) wants the police to release detainees directly from police stations in light of the observation homes being emptied to avoid any transmission of coronavirus (Covid-19).

The Supreme Court on April 3 had instructed that juveniles in detention homes be sent back to their families amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown. The decision was taken for the welfare of the juveniles and to avoid an outbreak of Covid-19 in enclosed spaces.

According to officials, the Gautam Budh Nagar observation home located in Phase 2 had 184 detainees of whom 58 have been released on interim bail, so far, in the care of their families.

“Two juveniles were sent to us recently for a serious and heinous crime, respectively. One of them, a 15-year-old boy, was released on Thursday. He is from Jhansi and was brought in by the Ecotech 3 police in connection with a case of theft. We have instructed the investigating officer to make the necessary arrangements for the boy to be sent home,” said Aneet Singh Bhagel, JJB member, GBN.

He said the board wants that juvenile detainees with a sentence of less than seven years be directly granted bail from the police station, which anyway is a provision.

“Any new juveniles who are coming in are being kept in quarantine for a few days before they are allowed to mix with the other juveniles as a precautionary measure. We are taking all measures to ensure that there is no outbreak in the home and the detainees are all doing well. There are frequent inspections. Currently, we have 127 juveniles who are staying with us and we are working on the release of more of them. It would be better if the detainees who have a sentence of less than seven years were granted bail directly from the police,” said Baghel.

The detainees are released after an undertaking is signed by a parent or guardian and action will be taken against the signatory in case the juvenile violates the conditions of release.

Police officials, meanwhile, said that no order has come to them so far.

“In any case, if there is a sentence of less than seven years, they can be granted interim bail directly by police. However, in case of an arrest, we have to produce them within 24 hours in front of a juvenile justice magistrate and then whatever the court decides will happen,” said deputy commissioner of police, zone 1, Sankalp Sharma.