The Madras High Court has ruled that a juvenile accused of committing a crime cannot be arrested and this legal position obviates the need for them to seek anticipatory bail.
The ruling was given by a division bench of justices S Nagamuthu and Anita Sumanth, which had been tasked by the then Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul to determine if a plea by "a juvenile in conflict with law" seeking anticipatory bail was maintainable.
Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Nagamuthu said a study of the Juvenile Justice Act makes it clear that no police officer has been empowered to arrest "a child in conflict with the law" but only to "apprehend" him or her.