Juveniles indulging in heinous offences will continue to enjoy protection under law till age of 18 years, the Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the demands to reduce the age limit to 16 in face of rising incidents of crime involving juveniles.
last year’s Delhi gang-rape case acted as a trigger for demand to reconsider the provisions of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act.
A bunch of PIls questioned the constitutional validity of the Act, particularly the provision that set 18 as age for being defined a juvenile.
SC decides juvenile age to stay 18 In the Delhi case, a juvenile accused was involved in the gruesome gang-rape on a medical student in a moving bus.
Dismissing the PIls on the ground that criminal propensity among juveniles was an “exception”, the Bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justices SS Nijjar and J Chelameswar were of the view that no interference was called for in the JJ Act.
The judgement said, “The age of 18 has been fixed on account of the understanding of experts in child psychology and behavioural patterns that till such an age the children in conflict with law could still be redeemed and restored to mainstream society, instead of becoming hardened criminals in future.”
Incidents such as the Delhi gang-rape case, the bench observed could be termed an “exception”. However, “Such examples are not of such proportions as to warrant any change in thinking.”