New Delhi, July 30: In
a landmark move that seeks to further strengthen juvenile justice law, Indian
Parliament on Thursday approved legislation providing stringent constitutional
powers to law officers at district levels to award strict punishment while
dealing with the cases relating to child care and adoption.
This legislation
becomes law once President Ram Nath Kovind accords his consent to it.
The Juvenile Justice
(Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, which seeks to increase the
role of district magistrates and additional district magistrates in matters
concerning child care and adoption, was passed by Lok Sabha in March 2021.
The bill was passed
amid a ruckus as the opposition parties kept up their protests over Pegasus
snooping row, farm laws and price rise as the minister for Women and Child
Development Smriti Irani moved the bill in the Rajya Sabha. The passage of the
bill took place in the din without the House having a debate on it.
“The children of our
country deserve a united house to support the amendments proposed. The
amendments empower the district magistrates, enhance CWC (child welfare
committee) and enhance accountability. Hence I beseech that this House
irrespective of its political differences stand together in service of our
children,” the minister told the House ignoring the disruption.
The amendments listed
in the bill say background and educational qualification checks will be
included in the process of selection of a member of a child welfare committee.
“If an individual has
a record of violation of human rights, that individual can never be appointed
as a member of the child welfare committee. If an individual is convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude and has not been granted pardon, that
individual cannot serve as a member of the child welfare committee. If an
individual has ever abused a child, employed child labour or indulged in
immoral acts, that individual cannot serve in the child welfare committee,”
Irani said.
“To ensure that there
is absolutely no conflict of interest, those individuals who run child care
institutions or other NGOs that profit from the government, who are from the management part of child care institutions, they cannot be a part of Child Welfare Committees,” she said.
The Bill also seeks to
categorize offences wherein the maximum sentence is more than seven years
imprisonment but no minimum sentence or a minimum sentence of less than seven
years has been provided as “serious offences” under the Juvenile Justice Act,
and to remove difficulties in interpretation of the Act.
“Serious offences”
include those for which the punishment under the Indian Penal Code or any other
law, for the time being, is imprisonment between three and seven years.
The Bill intends to
ensure that the district magistrate is suitably placed to ensure effective
coordination among the stakeholders for facilitation of necessary services for
children’s rehabilitation or re-integration.
By further empowering
district magistrates to deal with child protection and adoption processes, it
aims to facilitate a coordinated and effective response of the administration
to various issues pertaining to children, including adoption, the Bill said.
Dealing with the child
welfare committee, the Bill said no person shall be appointed as a member
unless he or she has been actively involved in health, education or welfare
activities pertaining to children for at least seven years or is a practising
professional with a degree in child psychology or psychiatry or law or social
work or sociology or human development.
The piece of the legislation further proposes that the appointment of any member of the committee shall be terminated by the state government, after making an inquiry,
if they fail to attend the proceedings of the committee consecutively for three
months without any valid reason or if they fail to attend less than
three-fourths of the sittings in a year.
The Bill makes the
district magistrate the grievance redressal authority for the child welfare
committee and anyone connected with a child may file a petition before the
official, who shall consider and pass appropriate orders
The minister stressed the necessity for
entrusting District Magistrates with the responsibility of care and protection
of vulnerable children in light of the prevailing inadequacies in the system.
She recounted the commitment of the Parliament towards prioritizing India’s
children above all issues.
The amendments include authorizing District
Magistrate including Additional District Magistrate to issue adoption orders
under Section 61 of the JJ Act, in order to ensure speedy disposal of cases and
enhance accountability. The District Magistrates have been further empowered
under the Act, to ensure its smooth implementation, as well as garner
synergized efforts in favour of children in distress conditions.
The amended provisions of the Act say any
Child Care Institutions shall be registered after considering the
recommendations of the District Magistrate. The DM shall independently
evaluate the functioning of District Child Protection Units, Child Welfare
Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, Specialized Juvenile Police Units,
and Child Care Institutions etc.
The eligibility
parameters for the appointment of CWC members have been redefined. Criteria
for disqualification of the CWC members were also been introduced to ensure that only the persons capable of
rendering quality service with requisite competence and integrity are appointed
to CWC.
At present there are three categories (petty,
serious and heinous) defined under the Act which are referred to, while
considering the cases of children in conflict with law. However, it was
observed that some of the offences do not strictly fall under any of these
categories. It has been decided that offences where the maximum sentence is
more than 7 years imprisonment but no minimum sentence has been prescribed or
minimum sentence of less than 7 years is provided, shall be treated as serious
offences within this Act.
Several difficulties faced in implementation
of various provisions of the Act have also been addressed and suitable amendments to remove these
difficulties arising in the interpretation of various provisions of the
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and to clarify the
scope of certain provisions of the Act have also been introduced.
With the steep rise in the incidents of crime
against women and children witnessing a steep hike in the country, an urgent
need to further strengthen the juvenile justice law is due for a long time. The
various stakeholders involved with the children's care and adoption including
police forces, law officers and activists of the various non-governmental
organizations have been demanding the government to further amend the current
Juvenile Justice Act 2015 to provide concerned authorities more teeth.
Several difficulties faced in implementation
of various provisions of the act have also been addressed and suitable amendments to remove these
difficulties arising in the interpretation of various provisions of the
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and to clarify the
scope of certain provisions of the act have also been introduced.