Juvenile Justice System In India

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HISTORY The history of the juvenile justice system in India will provide a roadmap of the measures already taken by the country against the ones that are required to be implemented in the current scenario. The history of the system can be broken down into five periods a) prior to 1773, b) 1773-1850, c) 1850-1918, d) 1919-1950 and e) Post 1950. The year of 1773 is of historical importance as it conferred on the East India Company the rights to make laws and to enforce them on a limited scale which was further broadened though the charter of 1883. Prior to 1773 as is common in India, most of the laws with relation to children derived their source from divine and customary law. The Hindus and Muslims were known to name the parents responsible…show more content…
The state of Madras was the first to form a Childrens Act in 1920 which gave the magistrate the power to treat a trial concerning a juvenile differently than a trial concerning an adult. The aim was that the prison system could act as a future deterrent but at the time of commission restorative justice for the child was the main concern. The inalienable element of most of the crimes committed by the children were the circumstances surrounding their lives that prompted them to do so and after the Partition it only led to increase in levels of juvenile delinquency and vagrancy. This was the time when the political henchmen took note of the issue holding the future of the country and stake and it lead to the implementation of Children’s Acts throughout the nation the only drawback continuing to be the age difference 13-18 which served as the age for adult in certain states. Hence a child could be treated as a minor in one state but couldn’t in another leading to ambiguity and confusion in implementation of the…show more content…
The First Five Year Plan to focus on the child in conflict with the law was the 3rd Planning Commission Report which upheld a certain sum as a budget for children separately from the mother. Additionally the 7th Five year plan formed the Integrated Child Development Services which aimed to protect, prevent and control juvenile mismanagement. In 1974 India formed its National Policy for Children which recognized children as the light bearers to the future of the nation and it was held that if they were not a properly maintained human resource the future of nation would be dim. A major portion of it concerned itself with the rehabilitation of destitute and delinquent children. In 1979 which UN declared as the Year of the Child, the theme in India was ‘Reaching the Deprived Child’ which meant that the priority of the government should be the juvenile delinquents from the under privileged sections of society. Lastly the Indian Council for Child Welfare which was formed through the Five Year Plans led to the formation of a Coordinating Committee under every ministry for understanding the needs of the child. It also examined the feasibility of various policies for juvenile delinquents in order to realize the best method of implementation. The legal provisions with

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