Patna HC holds special sitting to reduce juvenile cases' pendency

New Delhi: In a major move aimed at reducing the pendency of juvenile cases in Bihar, the Patna High Court has arranged special sitting in all the 38 Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) of the state following all the protocols of COVID-19 guidelines.

The decision in this regard has been taken by the Juvenile Justice Monitoring Committee (JJMC) of the Patna High Court comprising Justice Ashwani Kumar Singh (Chairperson), Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Arwind Srivastav with the approval of the Chief Justice of Patna High Court and in collaboration of Bihar State Legal Services Authority.

Notably, in Bihar, more than 18,000 cases are pending in the JJB, including 15,500 cases of heinous nature.

According to additional registrar of juvenile justice secretariat Subhash Chandra Sharma, in the special sitting held between 10.30 am to 4.30 pm, 1,416 cases, including 620 petty, 701 serious and 95 heinous nature cases, have been disposed of by the JJB in a single day in strict adherence with the spirit and objects of JJ Act, 2015 and Bihar JJ Rules, 2017.

The board has also facilitated the release of more than 50 children institutionalised in the child care institutions, particularly in observation homes. Out of 50, 20 children were released from Patna's observation home. As per the officials, more special sittings would be organised in a month or bi-month.