Amendments to Juvenile Justice Act approved by Cabinet

New Delhi, Aug 6:In a welcome turn of events, the Cabinet has approved the amendments made in the Juvenile Justice Act. According to media reports, this act will allow the Juvenile Justice Board to decide whether a

above the age of 16 years, committing a henious crime like

is to be sent to an observation home or tried in a regular court.

The amendment bill will then be sent to the Parliament for approval. In fact, such juveniles may face a jail term, but will not be awarded capital punishment like life sentence or death penalty.

In the present law, if a juvenile below the age of 18 years is found guilty, he is tried by the juvenile justice board and if convicted, he is sent to a juvenile home for a period of 3 years for correction.

In fact, the government has fast tracked clearance of the Bill, which was sent for inter-ministrial consultations only last week. The women and child welfare ministry is keen to pass this bill in the ongoing Parliament session, which ends on August 14.

The bill was in purview of the increasing juveniles involved in rape cases in the country. But the eye-openers were the Nirbhaya gangrape case and the Shakti Mills gangrape cases.

OneIndia News