Report sought from DSLSA on implementation of guidelines to determine actual age of delinquents

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi State Legal Service Authority (DSLSA) to furnish to it within two weeks a report on the implementation of its earlier guidelines for identifying and determining the actual age of delinquents stated to be between 18 and 21 years.

A bench headed by Justice Siddharth Mridul, which was dealing with various issues pertaining to the interpretation and effective implementation of certain provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, noted that in 2012 the high court had called for a report every six months from the police authorities in relation to the compliance and implementation of the directions but that was never done.

In the order passed on May 11, 2012, another bench of the high court, while dealing with the rights of juveniles in conflict with law, had laid down guidelines to prevent the incarceration of children in conflict with law — in prisons or their subjection to the adult criminal justice system. Counsel appearing for Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights and DSLSA claimed that these detailed guidelines have been honoured almost entirely in the breach and not in the observance.

DSLSA further informed the bench, also comprising Justice Anup J Bhambhani, that certain amendments have been proposed in the standard-form Arrest Memo for verification of the age of the arrested person, which is pending at the administrative level and is expected to be finalised soon.