Comments
The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a Bill that provides for trying juveniles aged between 16 and 18 years for heinous crimes under laws for adults, with the government insisting that it had tried to strike a “fine balance” to ensure that no injustice was done to innocent children.
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill was passed after the Centre agreed to delete a controversial clause.
The clause said if a minor commits a crime at the age between 16 and 18, but is caught when he has turned 21, should be tried under IPC and not juvenile laws.
At least 42 official amendments were moved by the government to the Bill which was adopted, while all the amendments moved by opposition members like Shashi Tharoor (Congress) and NK Premchandran (RSP) were negated.
Opposition members opposed the proposal to raise the age bar, expressing apprehensions about misuse and violation of rights of children by the new law which is being enacted against the backdrop of the involvement of a 16-year-old in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape case.
However, Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi said she has tried to be “pro-child” and made efforts to strike a “fine balance” between justice to victims and rights of children.
Rejecting the allegation that she only loved animals and not children, she said the new law is intended to be a “deterrent” to ensure that juveniles refrain from crimes and avoid spoiling their lives.
Justifying the need for the new law, she said according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), around 28,000 juveniles had committed various crimes in 2013 and of them, 3,887 had allegedly committed heinous crimes.
“The new law is meant to apply to such 3,887 juveniles out of the 47.2 crore juvenile population of the country,” Maneka said while seeking to allay concerns of the members.
Rejecting the contention by the Opposition that the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee were disregarded, she said 11 out of 13 recommendations have been accepted.
Room for misuse To concerns expressed by some members that the new law may be misused against the poor, adivasis and other deprived sections of the society, the Minister said most of the crimes are committed against the poor people and she is trying to ensure justice to them.
She underscored the point that poverty may provoke anger and envy but it cannot be used as an excuse for crimes.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.