NEW DELHI: The Delhi HC on Wednesday issued notices on a public interest litigation (PIL) that raised concerns about the large backlog of cases before Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) in the capital and the alleged failure to properly implement the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2015.
A division bench led by Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela asked for responses from the Central Government, the Delhi Government, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, and a High-Level Committee set up under Section 16(2) of the Act.
The petition was filed by iProbono India Legal Services, represented by advocates Samyak Gangwal, Yamina Rizvi, Ankita Talukdar, and Siddharth Desarda. The Court gave the authorities four weeks to submit their replies. The petitioner was given two weeks after that to respond, if needed. In the meantime, the Court asked the petitioner to present a detailed representation of their concerns to the Delhi High Court’s Juvenile Justice Committee within the next two weeks. The matter is scheduled to be heard again on September 24.
During the hearing, the Chief Justice reminded the Delhi Government’s lawyer that, under the structure of the JJ Act, it is the State Government’s responsibility to ensure that the law is properly implemented. He also pointed out that the setting up and disbanding of JJBs, along with their overall functioning, falls under the State’s control.
The petition seeks the full and proper enforcement of the JJ Act, especially to protect the rights of children accused of offences, legally known as Children in Conflict with Law (CCLs). The law sets clear timelines for completing inquiries by the JJBs, and the plea argues that these deadlines are often not met.
“The petition had to be filed because these timelines are being badly ignored,” the plea states, adding that this leads to serious injustice and violates children’s rights to a fair and timely trial under Article 21 of the Constitution and the JJ Act itself. The petition says such delay defeats the main purpose of the law, which is to ensure quick rehabilitation and reintegration of such children into society. The plea also asks the Court to direct Chief Judicial Magistrates and Chief Metropolitan Magistrates to review the case backlogs in the JJBs every three months, as required by Section 16(1) of the Act, and to submit reports to the High Court. It further urges the Court to instruct JJBs to publicly share case pendency figures every quarter on a website, and to take steps to include the JJBs in the National Judicial Data Grid.