Over 9,600 children wrongly placed in adult prisons between January 2016 and December 2021: Study

New Delhi: A recent study titled “Incarceration of Children in Prisons in India” obtained data under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, revealing a troubling trend: over 9,600 children were wrongly placed in adult prisons between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2021.

Conducted by legal rights organisation iProbono, the study underscores significant issues within India’s juvenile justice system. The findings indicate that 9,681 children were erroneously incarcerated in adult facilities during the specified period. On average, more than 1,600 children were transferred annually from prisons to juvenile homes nationwide, as identified by Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs).

The data was collected from 285 district and central prisons out of a total of 570. However, this figure excludes information from 749 other prisons, such as sub-jails, women’s prisons, and special prisons, where data was not requested. Additionally, it only includes children successfully identified and transferred, not all those who were juveniles at the time of their alleged offence.

Several states, including Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Nagaland, and the Union Territory of Ladakh, did not adequately respond to enquiries. Among the states that did respond, the study revealed some alarming patterns.

Uttar Pradesh, with a response rate of 71 per cent, reported that 2,914 children were moved from prisons to juvenile homes. However, there were discrepancies in the data, with some prisons reporting high numbers of detained children despite no visits from JJBs.

In Bihar, 1,518 children were moved out of adult jails, according to responses from 34 per cent of prisons. There were instances where more children were identified by JJBs than those transferred. Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal did not provide any data despite repeated RTI requests. In Maharashtra, responses from 35 per cent of prisons showed that only 34 children were transferred, a figure significantly lower than those identified by JJBs.

Delhi demonstrated a highly organised approach to juvenile justice, with clear directives from the Delhi High Court aimed at preventing the incarceration of children in adult facilities.

In Haryana, 1,621 children were transferred, a figure that correlated well with the number identified during JJB visits, according to data provided by 90 per cent of prisons.

In Rajasthan, 108 children were transferred, as per data from 51 per cent of its prisons.

However, there was a notable lack of information on children identified during JJB visits.

Chhattisgarh transferred 159 children, revealing disparities in JJB visitation patterns across prisons, according to data from 44 per cent of its jails.

Jharkhand transferred 1,115 children, highlighting discrepancies in JJB visitations and identification practices, with 60 per cent of its prisons responding to RTI queries for the study.

Prisons in Odisha and Tamil Nadu demonstrated extremely low response rates to the queries, with no children reported to have been transferred from prisons to juvenile homes.

The report relied on data obtained under Section 6 of the RTI Act, which pertains to the Request for Obtaining Information. Between April 2022 and March 2023, 124 RTI applications were filed across 28 states and two Union Territories, primarily directed to Prison Headquarters, except for Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, where applications were filed in each district and central jail at the directions of the Prison Headquarters.

The data excludes the Union Territory jurisdictions of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep due to the absence of district and central jails there. with agency inputs