Asking the Government counsel to get instructions from the Government, a Division Bench of Chief Justice AK Goel and Justice AK Rath on Thursday issued notice to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) on a PIl seeking compensation to those two minor boys who were illegally detained by the railway police for over seven days in January this year and were brutally tortured in custody.
The court order came while adjudicating the petition filed by a city-based Centre for legal Aid to Poor (ClAP) seeking judicial intervention for rehabilitation and social reintegration of children who come in conflict with law as per the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection Act of 2000.
The petition maintains that the two minor boys of the city were illegally detained by the railway police for over seven days and were tortured for allegedly stealing a mobile phone from a train passenger. The children were rescued after intervention by another city-based social organisation. Terming this illegal detention as violation of juvenile laws of the country, the ClAP had formed a fact-finding team headed by an advocate-cum-journalist Amaresh Sahu. Sahu in his report had categorically stated that the minor boys were illegally detained for over a week and during the detention, they were subjected to inhuman treatment like depriving them of food and drinking water.
Basing on the report, the petitioner had pointed out that although there are provisions in the JJ Act, which mandates the arresting officer to produce the juvenile in conflicting with law under the charge of special police, who in their turn would produce them before the Juvenile Justice Board, the same was not followed. The petition further alleged that the provisions of the JJ Act are not properly implemented in the State, as a result of which many neglected children are subjected to cruelty and their rights for rehabilitation and reintegration are violated.