The steadily increasing demand for the lowering of the age of majority from the present 18 to 16 and graded or subjective approach towards the heinous crimes committed by such 'juveniles' received a boost/impetus/ fillip on Monday with the Supreme Court agreeing to the increasingly vociferous demand to minutely examine whether or not juveniles should be allowed to get away with an apology for a sentence even when they are convicted for heinous or seemingly inhuman crimes or offences like rape and cold blooded murder......
Miracles continued to shower down on the aam aadmi with the indifferent and callous government acceding to the long standing demand to examine the definition or description of a juvenile and the deemed cut-off age in cases or instances of heinous crimes perpetrated by such people or persons.........
Taking cognisance and due notice of the nationwide consternation and outrage over the increasing likelihood of the brave heart Nirbhaya's most brutal tormentor and assailant getting away almost scot free on account of his being a juvenile; a two judge bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra issued relevant notices to the centre in this regard and also said that it would minutely scrutinise the "correlation between grave offences on the one hand and age of the juvenile or offender on the other"............
This welcome development in the Supreme Court happily coincided with a guarantee or promise from the government of the day about it's willingness to examine the demand for duly reducing the age cut-off for juveniles from the 18 years which is the existing norm.......
Though much delayed the belated willingness on both the part of the government as well as Supreme Court to re-examine the provisions of this contentious and increasingly controversial law does indeed hold out hope for the future and give rise to the hope that a far more wide reaching and stringent juvenile justice act or law would not only address or take care of the reformative nature of the law but also the deterrent aspect of the same........
However let's not loose touch with the ground realities and start celebrating prematurely as the amendments to the existing laws in this regard will only become a reality if there is some kind of consensus on the same amongst the leading political parties and subject to it being passed by a majority of members in both houses of parliament..........
In the meantime, here's a closer look at how the leading lights of the world namely France, United Kingdom and the United States of America deal with the juveniles who commit heinous crimes on their watch or within their courts' jurisdiction.........
FRANCE: No criminal charges posted against juveniles up to 10 years of age. Educational penalties such as confining an offender to a correction home or specialised centre in cases of juveniles between 10-13 years of age. Minors between the ages of 13-16 will only get half the sentence applicable in the case of a similar crime being committed by an adult and can be remanded to or incarcerated in a prison if the offender happens to be between the ages of 16 and 18 depending upon the mitigating circumstances, brutality and bestiality of the crime or offence committed with the plea of juvenility being set aside by the presiding judge..........
UNITED KINGDOM: Children or then should I dare say offenders below the age of 10 cannot be charged with any crime in England and Wales. Juveniles will initially be tried in youth courts without the presence of a jury in cases of serious crimes or offences like murder and rape committed between the ages of 10 and 18, the case would initially be heard in a youth court but can be upgraded to an adult court depending upon the severity of the crime and mental maturity of the offender in question.........
UNITED STATES: "Juveniles" can be tried as "adults" in designated criminal courts with cases being "transferred" to the adult courts from the juvenile justice system. The minimum age when this process can be initiated differs from state to state and the juvenile defendants or accused lose their status as minors the very minute the case is transferred to an adult court.........
Which again brings us back to the moot question as to why India has failed to wreak the required or desired amendments in the juvenile justice act in conjunction with the needs of a society in a state of constant flux or churning and more importantly considering the burgeoning numbers of juveniles committing serious or heinous crimes.........
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