Save the kids! Save the kids who are sexually abused by spreading more and more awareness among their parents! Save the kids who are working by emphasizing their parents to stop child labor! Save the kids by giving them a happy and safe childhood! Save the kids by being a good parent!!
But what about the kids who have no parents at all? Who are going to save them? Yes I am talking about the orphans who are not even counted in the population chart. Every day hundreds of unwed mothers throw away their newborns and get rid of the shame the society could give her because of her own child. Very few of these kids manage to breathe till any passer by or the police find them and are handed over to an orphanage. 90% of such kids are, however, found dead as they are thrown just after their birth into a dustbin or any place where no one can find them until dead. The few who survive get severe injuries due to harsh conditions and have to lead an unfortunate life forever.
Most of the couples who don’t have children adopt only those kids who are physically and mentally fit that is the healthy babies who are surrendered. However the babies who are abandoned to face physical and mental illness are left behind to lead a loveless life in the orphanage.
Most of us know about the Juvenile Justice Act as an act which punishes or saves the rights of an under 18 child. Recently this act came into limelight with the petition filed by Subramaniam Swamy to revise the age of a juvenile from 18 to 16 in case of a heinous crime. The juvenile who was one of the main accused in the Nirbhaya case compelled the house of parliament to accept the revised version and term it as Juvenile Justice Act 2014. But, the Juvenile Justice Act also governs the procedure of adoption. And the drawbacks which were there in JJA 1986 and JJA 2000 in the sections which governs the adoption procedure were never considered for a revision.
The Juvenile Justice Act – 1986 created a Juvenile Welfare Board to deal with orphan, destitute and other disadvantaged children (called the neglected juveniles) and the Juvenile Court to deal with children engaged in criminal activities (called the delinquent juveniles). The Sessions Court was the common appellate authority against both. The powers of the Sessions Court were defined by the sec. 7.3 in chapter II. As the section applied to both the bodies, the powers of the Sessions Court were applicable to both kinds of children viz – The neglected and the delinquent juveniles.
“The powers conferred on the board or Juvenile Court by or under this act may also be exercised by the high court and the court of session, when the proceeding comes before them in appeal, revision or otherwise.”
- Juvenile Justice Act 1986 sec. 7.3 Chapter II
The amended JJA-2000 replaced ‘Juvenile Welfare Board’ with the ‘Child Welfare Committee’ and the ‘Juvenile Court’ with ‘Juvenile Justice Board’ with no major difference in scope or functionality.
| Old Term (1986) | New Term (2000 and 2014) |
| Juvenile Welfare Board | Child Welfare Committee (CWC) |
| Juvenile Court | Juvenile Justice Board (JWB) |
| Neglected Juvenile | Child in need of care and protection |
| Delinquent Juvenile | Child in conflict with the law |
The Sessions Court remained the appellate body. However, the powers of the Session Court were now described in separate sections for each body – Sec 31.1 and 31.2 for the CWC and sec 6.1 and 6.2 for the JJB. The same arrangement has continued in the 2014 amendment with only a change in section numbers.
We can see that the section pertaining to the JJB is a replica of the original section which applied then to both the bodies. The Sessions Court thus has full powers in respect of the child in conflict with the law. However, the sec.31 which deals with powers of the Sessions Court in respect of Child in need of care and protection has the last clause missing. The net effect is to drastically curtail power of the Sessions Court to provide relief to child in need of care and protection.
This difference has two outcomes:
- The Sessions Court cannot provide relief against an order of Child Welfare Committee as it cannot assume powers of the Child Welfare Committee. Thus a child’s rehabilitation will be delayed.
- If Child Welfare Committee forgets to or chooses not to give a decision, the child is not left with any clear remedy. An appeal or a revision can be filed only when a decision is given not ‘OTHERWISE’. In the previous version of the Act (1986), the word “otherwise” in sec. 7.3 covered such an event for both types of children.
Most of the couples who are interested in adopting a child prefer very small babies i.e. babies who are not more than a few months. The delay in making them ‘free for adoption’ deprives them from getting adopted.
(Free For Adoption – When a child’s parents or guardians have relinquished their parental rights or have had them terminated in a court of law. Once this has occurred a child is then “legally free” to be adopted by another person or family member. Any orphan or abandoned or surrendered child, declared legally free for adoption by the CWC (Child Welfare Committee), is eligible for adoption.)
In normal cases we say that ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’. However in the case of these little ones, we can clearly see that ‘Justice delayed is childhood denied’!
There are lots of flaws in the Juvenile Justice Act 2014 which has been already passed In the Lok Sabha and soon will be passed in the Rajya Sabha too. The government and the authorities responsible to amend this act however turns blind towards the rights of these kids who do not even have the basic human right of fighting for themselves.
In the next article I will bring up to your attention one more flaw of the JJA. Till then please share this article till it reaches the authorities to make a difference!
