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.