Capital punishment should be awarded to juveniles only based on evidences: Justice Madan B Lokur

Capital punishment should be awarded to juveniles only based on evidences: Justice Madan B Lokur

He said judgment in such cases had to be delivered on the basis of evidence. 'It is not that for every murder, for every rape, the only penalty is death. I mean, we are not savages in this country.'

BHOPAL: Juvenile convicts cannot be handed down capital punishment in every case pertaining to heinous crimes such as rape and murder, said Justice Madan B Lokur, the chairman of the Supreme Court Juvenile Justice Committee.

He said judgment in such cases had to be delivered on the basis of evidence. “It is not that for every murder, for every rape, the only penalty is death. I mean, we are not savages in this country.”

“Just because the person happens to be 17 years old or close to 18 years old, commits a heinous crime - therefore he must get the death penalty, it cannot be like that,” Justice Lokur said at the Fourth Western Regional Consultation on Effective Implementation of Juvenile Justice Act. On Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) courts, Justice Lokur

said studies reveal that “perhaps” these courts were “not functioning as well as they should”.

“Are the POCSO courts functioning well? Are they not functioning well? You know, studies have been done (which) indicate that perhaps the POCSO courts are not functioning as well as they should. What are the reasons? What are the challenges?”

Justice Lokur said that the Child Rights Protection Commission, states and the Centre should work together to tackle the huge number of cases of missing children as well as those related to child labour and child trafficking.

Related Stories

No stories found.

X
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com