The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021 was passed by the Lok Sabha on March 24, 2021 and by the Rajya Sabha on July 28, 2021. It received presidential assent on August 7, 2021 and became an act, known as The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2021. This act amended the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, which had replaced the Juvenile Delinquency Law and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
These amendments are based on a report filed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), released in 2018-19, which surveyed over 7,000 childcare institutions and found glaring lapses in the conduct of childcare institutions. There was not a single childcare institution in the country which was 100 per cent compliant to the provisions of the act.
Such institutions received large funds, including foreign funding, whereas children lived in unsanitary conditions in portacabins. About 39 per cent institutions were not registered, even after the 2015 amendment. Some three-fifths of the institutions were found to lack any toilets, one-tenth did not have any drinking water, and 15 per cent of childcare homes did not have provisions for separate beds or diet plans.
The findings made it clear that childcare homes were not concerned about rehabilitation of children and children were reportedly kept to get funds.
In view of these findings, the amendment act seeks to ensure speedy trials and increased protection of children at the district level, with checks and balances in place, as well as to speed up the adoption processes in the country. For this, the amendment act enlarges the purview of the district magistrate and additional district magistrate with regard to child care and adoption.
Provisions of the Amendment Act
The amendment act has brought in the following changes in the 2015 juvenile justice act:
- The new act entrusts district magistrates and additional district magistrates with the task of monitoring the functioning of various agencies under the Juvenile Justice Act in every district.
- It authorises district magistrates and additional district magistrates to issue adoption orders under Section 61 of the act. This will ensure speedy disposal of cases and enhance accountability. It will also lead to smooth implementation as well as garner synergised efforts in favour of children in distress conditions.
- If any person is aggrieved by an adoption order passed by the district magistrate, he/she may file an appeal before the divisional commissioner within 30 days of such order. Such appeals should be disposed within four weeks from the date of filing of the appeal. The amendment act removes a provision of the 2015 act which states that there will be no appeal for any order made by a child welfare committee concluding that a person is not a child in need of care and protection.
- Any child care institutions shall be registered after considering the recommendations of the district magistrate.
- The 2015 act has provisions related to child welfare committees It provides that states must constitute one or more child welfare committees for each district to take care of children in need of care and protection. There are criteria for the appointment of members to the committee. It includes involvement in health, education, or welfare of children for at least seven years, or a practising professional with a degree in child psychology, psychiatry, law, or social work. The amendment act adds certain criteria which make a person ineligible for the role of a member of the committee. these include—(i) having any record of violation of human rights or child rights, or (ii) being a part of the management of a child care institution in a district.
- The 2015 act recognises three categories of crimes–petty, serious, and heinous while considering the cases of children in conflict with law. Under the 2015 act, serious offences are those for which the punishment is imprisonment from three to seven years. The amendment act provides that serious offences will also include offences for which maximum punishment is imprisonment of more than seven years, and minimum punishment is not prescribed or is less than seven years.
Designated Court The 2015 act provides that offences against children, punishable with imprisonment of more than seven years, will be tried in the children’s court (equivalent to a sessions court). Other offences (punishable with imprisonment of less than seven years) will be tried by a judicial magistrate. As per the amendment act, all offences under the act will be tried in the children’s court.
Offences against Children Under the 2015 act, an offence punishable with imprisonment between three to seven years, was cognizable (where arrest is allowed without warrant) and non-bailable. The amendment act provides that such offences will be non-cognizable and non-bailable.
- Several difficulties faced in implementation of various provisions of the 2015 act have also been addressed and suitable amendments have been introduced to remove them, which arise in the interpretation of various provisions of the 2015 act, and also to clarify the scope of certain provisions of the act.
Critical Analysis
Even as the amendments have been welcomed as an attempt to provide better protection to children in need, there remains the challenge of proper implementation. Since a district magistrate is in charge of all processes in a district, including all task forces and review meetings, the fear is that the amendment act may fall through the cracks, or not be given a priority. To ensure proper implementation of the act, the concerned district magistrate will have to hold regular fortnightly meetings with all five arms: child welfare committees (CWC), juvenile justice boards, childcare institutions (CCI), district child protection units, and special juvenile police units.
Further, district magistrates will be required to undergo specific training in child protection rules as they are usually not trained or equipped to deal with these matters.
Adoption of a child is a legal process which creates a permanent legal relationship between the child and adoptive parents. Therefore, vesting the power to issue adoption orders with a district magistrate instead of a civil court should be reviewed seriously. As of July 2018, there were 629 adoption cases pending in various courts. Thought should also be given to the fact whether the level of pendency of cases justifies shifting the load to the district magistrate.
As per the Standing Committee on Human Resource Development (2015), various statutory bodies under the act are not present in many states. Only 17 of 35 states/union territories had all basic structures and bodies required under the act in all districts up to 2019.
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