Prayas, one of the country’s prominent NGO working for juveniles has urged the Government to reconsider some amendments in the Juvenile Justice Amendment Act, 2021 to protect children.
In a letter to the ministry of women and child development, Prayas founder secretary Amod Kanth enunciated in specific and detailed recommendations, regarding amendments to be reconsidered, such as, section (86)2 of the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2021. Giving detailed reasons, he said the above section was retrogressive and having worked for years in child protection and care, he felt that it created a legal discrepancy which in turn diluted the commitment of the government towards children to protect them and safeguard their rights. The key question which Kanth from his long service in law enforcement and Prayas posed whether an offence could be non-cognizable and non bailable at same time.The non-cognizable offences as per law are not serious and are considered for bail.
However, a Magistrate might take into consideration other factors which might lead to a bail being rejected.
Section 2(1) of Criminal Procedure Code refers to the offences that are not serious or usually petty in nature. For example, assault, cheating, forgery and defamation are usually bailable because of their non- serious in nature.
There are some sections in JJ Act, 2015 such as /sections 84,85 and 86, being the crimes against children to protect them from extremely hazardous situations, should be taken into account with or without reference to the general provisions under the Criminal Pocedure Code, he said.