The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 is a law that deals with children who are either in conflict with the law or in need of care and protection. It ensures that minors are treated differently from adults, focusing on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
The Court emphasized that police and magistrates must identify juveniles at the earliest stage of any criminal case. In this case, Karthik, a minor at the time of the offence, was wrongly tried and imprisoned as an adult for 13 years — a serious violation of his legal and human rights.
The Act mandates that minors must be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), not adult courts. It also ensures that they are housed in juvenile homes instead of adult prisons. This helps protect them from violence, abuse, and negative influence from hardened criminals.
Authorities failed to verify his age during both arrest and trial. If identified as a juvenile, Karthik would have served a maximum of three years in a juvenile facility. Instead, he was unlawfully imprisoned for over a decade in an adult prison.
Yes. Indian law allows an accused person to claim juvenility at any stage — even after conviction or sentencing. Courts can order an official inquiry to determine the accused’s age based on school records, birth certificates, or other government documents.
The JJ Act is designed to reform and reintegrate juveniles into society. Wrongly placing them in adult prisons replaces rehabilitation with punishment, completely defeating the law’s core objective.
“The true measure of justice is how we treat the most vulnerable among us.”
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