Stressing that the onus was on the Upper House of Parliament to get the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill 2014 passed in order to ensure mandatory registration of offenders, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi on Monday said it is important to bring a juvenile within the ambit of law.
“I wish the Rajya Sabha would allow me to pass this Act, at least it would give relief. They should be kept under watch. At the moment, you are not even allowing me to pass a bill. We are all stuck,” she said when asked about the issue.
“We have seen this for the past two years and the act is stuck in Rajya Sabha,” adding that “nowadays it is important to bring 16-year-old also within the ambit of law, and to give them the belief that if they commit heinous crimes, they will be taken to task.”
She further pointed out that she would be meeting Home Minister Rajnath Singh to discuss that some safeguards should be put into place. “Last week, Gandhi met Singh twice regarding this matter in order to ensure that all steps are taken to stall the juvenile’s immediate release,” said sources.
Meanwhile, on Monday the Delhi high court reserved its order on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s plea against the release of the “unreformed” juvenile convict. The Centre asked Delhi high court to extend the observation home stay of the juvenile who is scheduled to be released.
Several mandatory aspects were missing from the post-release rehabilitation plan which needed to be considered before setting him free, the Centre said. After hearing the brief arguments and perusing the post-release plan which was submitted by the Centre, the court reserved its verdict. Swamy said he was hopeful about the court’s handing down an order to prevent the release of the juvenile.
No mention of mental health status and follow-up were among the concerns listed by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain while appearing for the Centre. He sought an extension of the juvenile’s stay till the time all the missing aspects in the post-release plan are taken into account.
The court, thereafter, said it would go through the plan of the management committee (MC), set up as per the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Rules and also the Intelligence Bureau’s report, which was placed in a sealed cover, and then it will pass an order.
In November this year, Gandhi had recommended: “Wherever he (the accused juvenile) goes, a close eye should be kept on him for at least a couple of years.” Asked if justice had been delivered in the December 16 gangrape case, the minister said: “Let us not confuse justice with the law. The law said that he (the juvenile) could only go into children’s home and that is the anomaly we are trying to correct. He went into a children’s home and he has served his sentence and according to the law he is coming out and there is nothing we can do about it until and unless he commits another crime. I don’t know if justice has been served but definitely the law has been adhered to.”