This document discusses juvenile delinquency in India. It begins by defining a juvenile as a person under 18 years old. It then discusses the history and current laws around juvenile justice in India. The Juvenile Justice Act of 2000 defines a juvenile as under 18 and aims to rehabilitate rather than punish. However, there is debate around amending this law due to some violent crimes committed by 16-18 year olds. Views both support and oppose treating older juveniles as adults, considering factors like maturity levels and the need for both justice and rehabilitation. Overall causes of juvenile crimes include poverty, drugs, peers, family issues, and abuse.

1. JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IN INDIA
Title: Rootoftheproblemneedstobeaddressedinsteadofthepunishment
Submittedby,
AKASHKUMAR

2. (B.Com.M.Com.LL.B.LL.M.)
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY IN INDIA
(i)_Statement of problem:
Juvenile delinquency: Root of the problem needs to be
addressed instead of the punishment and laws to be revised
WHO IS A JUVENILE?
Juvenile means a person who is very young, teenager, adolescent or underage. In other words,
juvenile means children who have not yet reached the age of adults in the sense that they are still
childish or immature. Sometimes the term “child” is also interchangeably used for the term
“juvenile”.
Legally speaking, a juvenile can be defined as a child who has not attained a certain age at which
he can be held liable for his criminal acts like an adult person under the law of the country.
Juvenile is a child who is alleged to have committed certain acts or omissions which are in
violation of any law and are declared to be an offence.
In terms of law, a juvenile is a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years. It has a
legal significance. As per the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000, a juvenile shall
not be treated as an adult even if he/she is involved in any criminal acts for the purpose of trial
and punishment in the court of law.

3. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A JUVENILE AND A MINOR
Though in common language we use both the terms interchangeably but ‘juvenile’ and ‘minor’
in legal terms are used in different context. The term juvenile is used with reference to a young
criminal offender and the term minor relates to legal capacity or majority of a person.
History of juvenile in India:
In India, the first legislation dealing with children in conflict with law or children committing
crime was the Apprentices Act, 1850. It provided that children under the age of 15 years found to
have committed petty offences will be bounded as apprentices.
Thereafter, the Reformatory Schools Act, 1897 came into effect which provided that children up
to the age of 15 years sentenced to imprisonment would be sent to reformatory cell.
After the Independence, with an aim to provide care, protection, development and rehabilitation
of neglected or delinquent juveniles, our Parliament enacted the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986. It
was an Act which brought uniform system throughout the country.
Section 2(a) of the Act defined the term ‘juvenile’ as a “boy who has not attained the age of 16
years and a girl who has not attained the age of 18 years”.
Later on the Parliament enacted the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000 which
raised the age bar to 18 years for both girl and boy.
JUVENILE CRIMES IN INDIA

4. Petty crimes in general and heinous crimes in particular are being committed regularly in India
by children. Crimes such as theft, burglary, snatching which are not so serious in nature or
crimes such as robbery, dacoity, murder and rape etc which are relatively serious are on the rise
in whole of the country. And the unfortunate thing is that all types of these crimes are also being
committed by children below the age of 18 years.
Among juveniles also there is a specific trend that juveniles between the age of 16 to 18 years are
found to be more involved in heinous criminal acts. According to the National Crime Records
Bureau, the data of 2013 shows that of the 43,506 crimes registered against minors under the
Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Special Local Law (SLL) by juveniles, 28,830 had been
committed by those between the ages of 16 to 18. The statistics also show the number of
juveniles found to be in conflict with law under the IPC and the SLL has risen 13.6% and 2.5%
respectively in 2013, as compared with 2012.
The recent inhuman gang rape of a young girl on December 16, 2013, shocked the collective
conscience of the nation. The brutality with which the heinous crime was committed was most
shocking; it was later found out that among five accused, one was minor and he was the most
barbaric one.Again, in another brutal gang rape case which is known as Shakti Mill Rape case, a
minor was involved. These and several more recent events have triggered a public debate that the
present Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000 which treats persons below the age of
18 years as minor or juvenile, should be amended.
Present Legislation:
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2000 lays down that juvenile in conflict with law
or juvenile offenders may be kept in an ‘Observation Home’ while children in need of care and
protection need to be kept in a ‘Children Home’ during the pendency of proceedings before the
competent authority.

5. A juvenile can be detained only for a maximum period of 3 years irrespective of the gravity of
offence committed by him and he will be remanded to ‘Special Home’. The Juvenile Justice
(Care and Protection) Act, 2000 provides immunity to the child who is less than 18 Years of age
at the time of the commission of the alleged offence from trial through Criminal Court or any
punishment under Criminal Law in view of Section 17 of the Act.
The purpose of this new Act was to rehabilitate the child and assimilate him/her in mainstream
society. The rationale is that a child still has the possibility of getting reformed due to his/her
tender age and lack of maturity and it is the responsibility of the State to protect and reform the
child.
3. Proposed Amendment in Juvenile Justice Act, 2000:
Recently due to major hue and cry in public against the increasing number of crimes being
committed by the juveniles, the Government has decided to present the proposed amendment in
law in the current Parliament itself. This amendment would have far reaching effects on our
criminal justice system.
In brief major changes are as follows:
 The proposed legislation would be replacing the existing Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection)
Act 2000.
 It has clearly defined and classified offences as petty, serious and heinous.
 It has been noticed that the increasing number of serious offences being committed by juveniles
in the age group of 16-18 years. Thus, in recognition of the rights of the victims alongside the
rights of juveniles, it is proposed that such heinous offences should be dealt with in special
manner.
 Therefore, it has been proposed that if a heinous crime is committed by a person in the age

6. group of 16 to18 years, the Juvenile Justice Board will first assess if the said crime was
committed by that person as a ‘child’ or as an ‘adult’.
 The Juvenile Justice Board will have psychologists and social experts in it which would make
sure that the rights of the juvenile are duly protected if the crime was committed as a child.
 The trial of the case shall proceed on the basis of Board’s assessment report that whether the
concerned juvenile has committed the crime as a child or as an adult.
VIEWS ‘FOR’ AND ‘AGAINST’ THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT:
The Government of India has already given approval to the new amendments in the Juvenile
Justice Act. Experts and common public both are having strong views regarding the same. A
brief analysis of views is as follows:
Positive views:
At present there are large numbers of people in the society who are demanding that juveniles and
specially juveniles in the age group of 16 to 18 years should be treated as adult as far as their
conviction in heinous crimes such as rape, gang rape, murder, dacoity etc. is concerned. The
reason is that that in several of the recent incidents as described above, it has been found that the
juveniles of 16-18 age group are involved in serious crimes and they are doing such criminal acts
with full knowledge and maturity.
The maturity level of children has not remain the same as 10-20 years ago, a child gets mental
maturity early in present socio-cultural environment due to the influence of Internet and Social
Media.
Therefore, to have a deterrent effect it is important that such offenders in the age group of 16 to
18 should be punished as adults so that victims’ could also get their justice.

7. Negative views:
The people and experts who don’t subscribe to this view that juveniles in the age group of 16 to
18 should be treated as adults as far as their sentencing in heinous crimes are concerned are of
the opinion that any law should not be amended or enacted by getting influenced from few
incidents, because a law is for all and for all time.
So it should be carefully drafted after taking into consideration all dimensions. For instance, in
case of juvenile crimes, it should be considered that whether by punishing 16, 17 year olds we
are following a punitive form of justice system or reformative system; whether there are no
possibilities that the child would be reformed; and whether it is not true that after spending 10
years in regular adult jails with hardened criminals, the child would come out as a more
toughened criminal.
Also, this view says that it is not only the responsibility of the child that he/she has committed
such heinous crimes but it is also the responsibility of the society that why society has not been
able to provide a proper and healthy childhood to the child and why such types of
discriminations and deprivations, both social and economic, were there that the child was forced
to commit crimes; also, why the State failed to provide care and protection to its children and let
them drift towards criminal activities.
Thus, it can be seen that there are strong views in both far and opposition of the change or
amendment in Juvenile Justice Act.
REASONS FOR JUVENILE CRIMES
No one is a born criminal. Circumstances make him so. Socio-cultural environment, both inside
and outside of home, plays significant role in shaping one’s life and overall personality.

8. Some of the most common causes which are associated with juvenile crimes are: Poverty; Drug
Abuse; Anti-social Peer Group; Easy availability of firearms; Abusive parents; Single-parent
child; Nuclear Family; Family Violence; Child sexual abuse and Role of Media.
However, as far as India is concerned, it is Poverty and the effect of media, especially the social-
media which make juveniles more inclined towards criminal activities.
Poverty is one of the biggest causes which force a child to get involved in criminal acts. Also,
role played by social media today which is having a more negative than positive imprints on
young minds.
Others factors are also there which need greater study and analysis at a later time.
(ii) International scenario:
The disturbing realization that world-wide delinquency exists, and shows no signs of tapering
off, has touched many thoughtful citizens whether they live in Vienna or Lagos, New York or
Calcutta. There are ways of diverting us from the problem. Indeed, it can always be pointed out
that juvenile delinquency is not new to the world. There is even proof of its dating back to 306
B.C., for among the first laws of the Romans there were already special provisions for children
who had stolen. The Romans recognized that their responsibility for such crimes was limited.
And it can also be pointed out that juvenile delinquency is by no means a peculiarity of our
generation. And, somewhat defensively, numbers of people can claim that no one country or
culture has a monopoly on it. But such facts are of little consolation. They do not help us to face
the problems or measure it or attempt to solve it. While it is probable, that in many countries the
extent and viciousness of juvenile delinquency has been exaggerated, or exploited, in the press or
by certain films, this hardly

9. explains or refutes the proof that delinquency exists today in virtually all countries of the world.
In the United Nations report, Five- Year Perspective, 1960- 1964, issued by the Department of
Economic and Social Affairs, ‘In the field of crime and delinquency there is a serious and
widespread problem today (but appearing to be particularly acute in some of the most highly
developed countries): that of juvenile delinquency. The various services that experts have hoped
would be effective in preventing juvenile delinquency have not generally succeeded in doing so,
for whatever reason. The question of underlying causes needs to be reviewed from a broad
perspective, and new methods evolved to deal with these causes.’ Almost every language in the
world now yields a phrase labeling those youngsters of many nations whose behavior or tastes
are different enough to incite suspicion if not alarm. They are the ‘teddy boys’ in England, the
‘nozem’ in the Netherlands, the ‘raggare’ in Sweden, the ‘blousons noirs’ in France, the ‘tsotsis’
in South Africa, the ‘bodgies’ in Australia, the ‘halbstarken’ in Austria and Germany, the ‘tai-
pau’ in Taiwan, the ‘mambo boys’ or ‘taiyozuku’ in Japan, the ‘tapkaroschi’ in Yugoslavia, the
‘vitelloni’ in Italy, the ‘hooligans’ in Poland and the .‘stiliugyi’ in the U.S.S.R. But it is not our
right to assume that every Teddy boy or every blouson noir is actively engaged in delinquency.
These names often mislead people. It is unjust to assume automatically that a youngster. Who
likes rock‘n’roll music or bizarre clothing is on his way to becoming a delinquent if he is not one
already. Too often the adult world has used the word ‘delinquent’ to express anger or
bewilderment at adolescent tastes A recent survey in India, conducted in two urban areas,
Lucknow and Kanpur, indicated that the second most common juvenile offence was vagrancy. A
few years ago in Hong Kong, juveniles brought before the magistrate’s court reached the
startling figure of more than 55,000 and yet over 90 per cent of them had committed only
technical breaches of the law such as hawking without a license. In these cases, the outsider can
hardly know if such delinquent acts are not gestures of the abandoned, the ill-fed or the desperate
child. In Kenya, stricter enforcement of the vagrancy and pass regulations some years ago
increased the number of juveniles appearing before the Nairobi Central Juvenile Court to

10. more than 3,000 in one year. Available information from Lagos, Nigeria, shows that a delinquent
there is primarily an offender against the unwritten laws of the home; disrespect and
disobedience are regarded as serious offences. So we see that the numbers of children cited for
delinquent acts can sometimes be misleading unless we are to know the nature of the offences
and what particular law they violate, and how they were apprehended and recorded by the
authorities. There is rarely much in common between the boy who collects cigarette butts in a
Cairo gutter, the Nigerian who defies his family, the American who uses a switch-blade or the
European who commits larceny. The very differences between them are staggering yet all could
possibly be defined as delinquents. It can only be said that delinquents throughout the world are
involved in such a wide range of behavior, from the most trivial to the most serious, that it is
scarcely possible to generalize about all types of
offences except to point out that they are usually committed by boys in an age-range from 7 to
18, depending on the locale. In most countries, the upper age limit under the law for juvenile
offenders varies from 16 to 19. In the United States, it differs very much from State to State. In
Wyoming, for example, a boy is legally an adult at 19 while a girl is considered a minor until 21.
In another State, Connecticut, the upper limit is 16. The minimum age at which a child is held
responsible for his acts and brought before any kind of court again fluctuates from country to
country. For example, it is nixed at 7 in the United States, at 9 in
Israel, 10 in Great Britain, 12 in Greece, 13 in France and Poland, 14 in Austria, Belgium,
Czechoslovakia, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and Yugoslavia.
And, finally, punishments lay down by the laws and also penal methods vary greatly from
country to country. Corporal punishment was once legally accepted by a large number of
countries: today a judge can still order it in Burma, Ceylon, India (with the exception of the
Bombay region), Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Thailand. Yet even when we take the most cautious
attitude towards statistics on delinquency-for its scope and extent cannot be expressed in rows of
neat figures-from all corners of the world, the evidence mounts. The offences are varied. They
range from stealing, vandalism and property offences, petty

11. extortion and gambling to violent behavior, rowdiness, truancy, immoral or indecent conduct,
and drinking and drug addiction. A taste for violence In almost every city in the world where
delinquency exists, so does the juvenile gang which looms up as a modern social institution.
Despite striking national differences, the teen-age gangs are seemingly aimless groups of
rootless, restless, unemployed adolescents who most frequently meet on street corners. Some
gangs-for example, a few in East Los Angeles, California-have committed murder while others
do nothing more offensive than mimic or insult passers-by in the street. But these gangs,
innocent or evil, are an important element in the over-all pattern of juvenile delinquency.
Looking at delinquency in a world-wide context, one does not often see individual youngsters
becoming delinquent each in his own fashion, but rather a number of boys participating in joint
activities that derive their meaning and pleasure from a set of common sentiments, loyalties and
rules. Many gangs are tightly organized; some are loosely conceived and drift apart quickly. The
majority of these gangs often engage in acts which do not always bring financial gains and to the
rest of the world seem almost purposeless in their malice. In Poland, teen-age gangs have
damaged railroad trains and molested passengers for no apparent reason. In Saskatchewan,
Canada, groups of boys have entered into private homes (when the owners were away) and
mutilated expensive furnishings without attempting to steal a single object. In Chiengmai,
Thailand, a band of male minors, with a symbol of a white eagle tattooed on their arms, found
their greatest diversion in terrorizing or injuring outsiders at such times as they were not engaged
in challenging a rival gang to a war. In Argentina, gangs of boys have gathered in cafés or bars to
insult or humiliate other customers or pedestrians; after this, they have sometimes wrecked a
parked car. In the Philippines, reports on teen-age gangs indicate the same urge for vandalism.
Several youngsters cruised through the city of Manila in a car and went on a rampage, breaking
glass windows of fashionable stores and residences. For several nights this particular gang kept
the police of three adjacent cities busy trying to track them down and guess where they might
strike next. Some juvenile delinquents, however, have clearer goals in mind. Their satisfactions
come

12. from more profitable acts. Racketeering or petty extortion are good examples. A gang in Detroit,
Michigan, which was composed of fifteen boys from 13 to 16 years of age, organized a racket in
which all the smaller children of the neighborhood were forced to pay five cents for the
insurance of not being molested on the way to and from the local cinema. A report from India
indicates that gangs of young boys and girls have learned to be highly successful smugglers of
illicit liquor and drugs. In Israel, a juvenile court judge finds that
groups of young people engaged in stealing cars is a ‘striking new feature’ because gang
behavior has been rare. It should not be assumed, however, that these gangs are always in
constant motion and that their numbers, year in and year out, are fixed. In each country, their
histories fluctuate somewhat as the lines in a fever chart. A German psychologist, Dr. Curt
Bondy, remarked that there seem to be years which are marked by violent outbursts of gang
activities and then years of relative tranquility. An article in The Observer of 15 July 1962,
states: ‘In North London, as the police will tell you, the ‘‘gangs” are no more than social
gatherings in dance halls and cafés of bored youths from the same area. They have no
organization, no accepted leader and no real name, just being referred to as “the mob from
Highbury” or But the danger is that anyone.. . can quickly whip up a gang to “turn over” any
individual or group which has offended him. Then the iron bars and the knives appear like
magic.’ However limited the information on world-wide juvenile delinquency is, several
conclusions have been drawn.
(iii) Inter-Disciplinary relevance:
Children are considered to be gifts from God and are greatest personal as well as national assets.
We as individuals, parents, guardians and society as a whole have a duty that children should be
allowed and provided opportunity to grow up in a healthy socio-cultural environment so that they
could become responsible citizens, physically fit, mentally alert and

13. morally healthy. It is the duty of the State to provide equal opportunities for development to all
children during the period of their growth which would reduce inequality and ensure social
justice. Children are expected to be obedient, respectful and have virtues and good quality in
them. However, due to various reasons certain percentage of children do not follow settled social
and legal dictum. Such children are most often than not get involved in criminal behavior which
is known as juvenile delinquency or juvenile crime.
Crime by juveniles is a harsh reality in India. In recent times juveniles were found to be
involved in most heinous of the crimes such as murder and gang rape. It’s a disturbing trend and
society as a whole is anguished by such criminal acts by children. Many experts believe that the
present law is inadequate to deal with the situation and we need changes in it so that for heinous
crimes juveniles may also be tried and punished as adults. But there are views in opposition as
well which do not subscribe to this view.
In the present article, we would try to understand who is a juvenile; crimes committed by
juveniles; its reasons; laws and proposed changes by the Government in the same.
REASONS FOR JUVENILE CRIMES
No one is a born criminal. Circumstances make him so. Socio-cultural environment, both inside
and outside of home, plays significant role in shaping one’s life and overall personality.
Some of the most common causes which are associated with juvenile crimes are: Poverty; Drug
Abuse; Anti-social Peer Group; Easy availability of firearms; Abusive parents; Single-parent
child; Nuclear Family; Family Violence; Child sexual abuse and Role of Media.
However, as far as India is concerned, it is Poverty and the effect of media, especially the social-
media which make juveniles more inclined towards criminal activities.

14. Poverty is one of the biggest causes which force a child to get involved in criminal acts. Also,
role played by social media today which is having a more negative than positive imprints on
young minds.
Others factors are also there which need greater study and analysis at a later time.
(iv) National scenario
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation providing current statistical data on juvenile arrests reported continuing decline in
almost every major category of crime. However, despite the continuing decline in arrest rates,
juvenile offenders in residential placement (n= 108,931 on 10/27/99) increased by 3% from 1997
to 1999. The total includes a 12% increase in placement of juveniles in a residential facility for a
technical violation. Between 1980 and 2000, the arrest rate for all offenses reflected a 35%
increase for juvenile females and a decline of 11% for juvenile males . The United States
Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families,
through the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, released April 2002, reported that
879,000 children were found to be victims of child maltreatment. Maltreatment categories
typically include neglect, medical neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and psychological
maltreatment. Almost two-thirds of child victims (63%) suffered neglect (including medical
neglect); 19% were physically abused; 10% were sexually abused; and 8% were psychologically
maltreated . According to a report 8 , in 1981, juveniles accounted for over one out of three
arrests for robbery, one out of every three arrests for crime against property, one out of six
arrests for rape, 70 J Indian Acad Forensic Med, 31(1) and one out of eleven arrests for murder.
In 1981, about one teenager out of every fifteen in the nation was arrested. Between 1983 and
1991, crimes committed by juveniles

15. under eighteen showed another staggering increase: robberies increased five times, murders
tripled, and rapes doubled. More than five hundred children arrested for rape in 1991 were
twelve. During the 1996-1997 academic school year, 6,093 students were expelled for bringing
firearms or explosives to school. Some 14000 young people were attacked on school property
every day, and 160 thousand children missed school every day because of the fear of violence. A
large percentage of these at-risk, antisocial youth are vulnerable to gang recruitment and
membership8 . In Britain, the total rate of violent crimes against individuals has increased a
frightening 1,200% during the period 1960 to 1993. The number of robberies has increased by
2,700% in the same period. 93% of Britain's crime was against property. Although the total
number of reported crimes in France has fallen slightly in recent years, juvenile delinquency has
continued to rise sharply by 81% over the past ten years. One in five of those charged was under
eighteen . Other Western countries' crime rates parallel the trend of the United States, Canada,
Britain and France. In Australia, the number of serious assaults, for example, has risen 391%
between 1973 and 1992, while the robbery rate increased 190%. In New Zealand, the total
number of violent offences increased 615% between 1960 and 1990, from 2,937 to 20,987. The
crime rate in Greece also increased 1,268% between 1980 and 1990. In Germany the assault and
theft rose 71%. During 1993 - 1997, the number of crimes committed by German children up to
age fourteen surged 10.1% . According to a report, juvenile courts, all over China tried 393,543
defendants aged less than 18 years during the period 1999 to 2005 convicting 393,115 and
acquitting 428 . A study of data published by the National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of
Home Affairs, Government of India, reporting the incidence and rate of juvenile delinquency in
India reveals that the incidents of juvenile crimes have declined from 12588 in 1991 to 9267 in
2000. However, during the same period offences like burglary, arson, hurt, molestation etc. have
increased. Despite the declining incidence of juvenile delinquency both at the absolute, and the
relative levels, it is too often reported that rural and urban India have pervasive
practices of child labor, juvenile servitude, domestic juvenile servitude and trafficking of
juvenile girls. Such reports demand for examination of the problems confronting juveniles.
Conclusion Juvenile Delinquency and the problems related to it have been faced by all societies,

16. all over the world; however, in the developing world the problems are all the more formidable.
The process of development has brought in its wake a socio-cultural upheaval affecting the age-
old traditional ways of life in the congenial rural milieu. In fact, various scientific advances and
concomitant industrialization and urbanization have ushered in a new era, which is characterized
by catastrophic changes and mounting problems. Cities have sprung up with heterogeneity of
population, cultural variations, occupational differentiations and overcrowded conditions. As a
result, social disorganization and maladjustment have taken place following a perennial influx of
people from their rural habitat to the urban squalid slums.Juveniles are adversely affected by
these changing conditions.
During the debate in the Lok Sabha in May 2015, Shashi Tharoor, an INC Member the
Parliament (MP), argued that the law was in contradiction with international standards and that
most children who break the law come from poor and illiterate families. He said that they should
be educated instead of being punished.[2]
Child Rights Activists and Women Rights Activists have called the bill a regressive step and
have criticized the Bill. Many experts and activists viewed post December 2012 Delhi Gang
Rape responses as creation of media sensationalisation of the issue, and cautioned against any
regressive move to disturb the momentum of Juvenile Justice Legislation in the Country.
However some sections in the society felt that in view of terrorism and other serious offences,
Juvenile Justice Act of 2000 needed to be amended to include punitive approaches in the existing
Juvenile Justice Law, which so far is purely rehabilitative and reformative. Some argued that
there is no need of tampering with Juvenile Justice Act for putting up effective deterrent against
terrorism. Retired Judge of Delhi High Court, Justice RS Sodhi on 8 August 2015 told Hindustan
Times, "We are a civilised nation and if we become barbaric by twisting our own laws, then the
enemy will succeed in destroying our social structure. We should not allow that but we must
condemn this move of sending children to fight their war"
(v) Methodology

17. Legal research and writing is a discipline dealing with adequate skills and techniques for finding
relevant legal materials and using them in the process of writing either in law or about law. The
focus of this study will be on the following vital areas:
1. Review of literature
2. Study methods - examinations or investigations
3. Sampling
4. Data collection
5. Data analysis
6. Questionnaire
7. Visits
Conclusion:
In conclusion it can be said that whatever changes be made in the Act, it should be the interest of
justice which must prevail. A law must not be made or amended due to single act of barbarism;
because a law is for all and for all time to come. Though it is true that children in the age group
of 16 to 18 are increasingly being found in commission of heinous crimes but it is still only a
little percentage of all the crimes committed every year in India. As per National Crime Records
Bureau, in the year 2013, juveniles were charged with only 3.4 per cent of total number of rapes
registered in India. Also, there is nothing to prove that harsher laws will lead to fewer crimes.
Therefore while debating the amendment in Parliament it must be discussed that whether we as a
society want to have a justice system based on retribution and punishment or a system which is
reformative and assimilative for the juvenile offenders. The State as well as the society has a
responsibility towards our children in the sense that they would not become wayward and remain
in the social mainstream; hence, ‘care and protection’ must be the main motto while amending
the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act and not punishment.
(vi) Review of literature
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

18. 1) 2012 Delhi gang rape, a rape case where one of the convicts was a juvenile
2) Odisha State Child Protection Society
3) Got the Presidential assent on December 31, 2015. As notified at Learning the Law, Last
accessed on July 27, 2016 10:01 AM
4) "16-Year-Olds to be Tried as Adults in Extreme Crimes, Says Lok Sabha". NDTV. 7 May
2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
5) "Commencement notification" (PDF). Retrieved 15 January 2016
6) "Rajya Sabha passes Juvenile Justice Bill; Jyoti's parents welcome development". The
Indian Express. 22 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
7) "SC agrees to examine plea to base juvenile culpability on mental age". The Times of India.
1 August 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
8) "SC Asks Swamy To Inform JJB To Defer Verdict On Juvenile". Tehelka. 31 July 2013.
Retrieved 10 May 2015.
9) "Delhi gang rape: Teenager found guilty". BBC News. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 10
May 2013.
10) "Teen sentenced in rape, death of Indian medical student". CNN. 2 September 2014.
Retrieved 10 May 2015.
11) "Juveniles who commit rape should be tried as adults: Maneka Gandhi". IBNLive. 14 July
2014. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
12) "Juvenile Justice Bill introduced in Lok Sabha". The Indian Express. 12 August 2014.
Retrieved 10 May 2015.
13) "Juvenile Justice Act: Government gives nod for proposal to try 16-18 year olds under adult
laws". DNA India. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
14) "Cabinet approves amendments to Juvenile Justice Bill". Business Standard. 22 April 2015.
Retrieved 10 May 2015.
15) "Towards a comprehensive Juvenile Justice law". The Hindu. 18 July 2014. Retrieved 10
May 2015.
16) "Juvenile Justice Bill passed; 16-18 years to face adult laws in heinous crimes". DNA India.
8 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
17) http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rajya-Sabha-passes-Juvenile-Justice-Bill-
Nirbhayas-mother-
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