Justice Nagarathna

Chief Justice Surya Kant emphasized on Saturday that while the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 permits children aged 16 to 18 to be treated as adults for severe offenses, the law must not overlook that they remain children. Speaking at the 'National Annual Stakeholders Consultation' held to commemorate the act's 10th anniversary, the CJI clarified that while the law requires punishment for harm caused, it also stresses the fact that the perpetrator is still a child.

The consultation, organized by the apex court's JJ committee led by Justice BV Nagarathna and UNICEF, took place at the Supreme Court's Administrative Buildings Complex in New Delhi from October 10 to 11.

Justice Nagarathna highlighted that children involved in criminal activities often face disruption in their education, strained family relationships, poverty, and substance abuse. Most of these children are offenders for the first time. She advocated for their rehabilitation rather than retribution, urging the destruction of outdated records and keeping the names of children in conflict with the law off the internet.

She also called for regular, independent evaluations to determine the progress of young people who return to school, find employment, and avoid reoffending.

Addressing the issue of juvenile justice, Justice Nagarathna warned against treating children as mere files, placements, or statistics. She stressed that when a child breaks the law, the law must not break the child. The delicate balance between public concern over crime and constitutional commitment to childhood creates a complex challenge in India's criminal justice system.

The real difficulty lies in implementing the law, she said, questioning whether Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) adequately perform the required preliminary assessments of a child's mental and physical capacity as mandated by Section 15 of the Act.

The Supreme Court judge cited the India Justice Report from November 2025, which revealed that as of October 2023, 55% of cases before JJBs across 18 States and two Union Territories were pending. Over 55,000 children were waiting for decisions, while 111 out of 470 responding JJBs were operating without the full complement of a principal magistrate and two social-worker members.

Justice Nagarathna questioned what happens to a child during prolonged legal proceedings, inquiring if they receive education, counseling, legal assistance, and medical care. She emphasized that a case being closed does not automatically mean the child has been rehabilitated.