Invoke JJ Act when kids are involved in stone-pelting against forces: NCPCR to Jammu & Kashmir

The Act stipulates seven years of imprisonment and up to Rs 7 lakh cash fine for any adult or group for using kids for any illegal activities either individually or collectively.
A file photo of stone pelting in Srinagar. (File | PTI)
A file photo of stone pelting in Srinagar. (File | PTI)

NEW DELHI: Country’s apex child rights body has asked Jammu and Kashmir administration to start booking individuals and organisations using children in illegal activities such as stone pelting against security forces under the Juvenile Justice Act. 

The directions come following the first-ever visit by senior  National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) authorities to the Union Territory ahead of COVID-19 lockdown in March. It is only after reorganisation of Jammu & Kashmir last year that it has come under the purview of the child rights’ body and the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005.

"Implementation of section 83 of the JJ Act, 2015 for children who are misguided by insurgent groups in J-K is recommended," the commission has suggested to the local administration and the Union Women and Child Development Ministry in the recently submitted report.

Section 83 of the JJ Act stipulates seven years or imprisonment and up to Rs 7 lakh cash fine for any adult or group of adults for using children for any illegal activities either individually or collectively.   Many individuals in several parts of the country, especially Uttar Pradesh were booked under the clause during the anti-CAA protests in December, following a nudge by the NCPCR.

The Commission has also recommended training for the UT police for implementing sections 15 and 18 of the act under which minors aged 16-18 can be tried as adults for heinous crimes, if permitted by the juvenile justice board.

NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo who led the five-member team to the UT said that these provisions are especially significant for Jammu & Kashmir, dealing with the problem of insurgency since decades. "Not only are children rampantly used by terrorist and insurgent organisations for fuelling anti-country activities, they are also deprived of their own rights as children," he told this newspaper.

Kanoongo also stressed that many juveniles who later emerge as "self-styled poster boys" of terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir are often inducted young. "We want strict provisions of the act be strictly followed in spirit in the state so that such practices stop," he added.

Among other recommendations, the Commission has suggested separation of shelter homes meant for boys and girls, implementation of the Right to Education act and initiating procedures for orphan children living in children home to declare them legally free for adoption.

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