SC to examine juvenile age issue

NIRBHAYA GANGRAPE

SC to examine juvenile age issue

Dhananjay Mahapatra TNN 

Source: The Times of AIndia dated August 1, 2013

New Delhi: Less than a fortnight after rejecting pleas for lowering the age of juveniles from 18 years to 16 years in heinous crimes, the Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a PIL arguing 
that a juvenile offender’s culpability should be determined on the basis of his or her mental maturity rather than physical age. 
    Additional solicitor general Siddharth Luthra opposed the PIL and informed abench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justices Ranjana P Desai and Ranjan Gogoi that on July 17, the apex court had decided a bunch of petitions rejecting pleas to lower the age of juveniles to 16 years. 
    The SC’s July 17 judgment in the Salil Bali case had noted that there was no data to support public perception, formed after the gruesome Nirbhaya gang rape, on spurt in heinous crimes involving juveniles. When Luthra repeatedly cited the Salil Bali judgment to oppose fresh judicial adjudication on the age of juveniles, the bench said, “Why not we examine it, it is such a grave matter?” 
    After deciding to take up Subramanian Swamy’s petition seeking court trial of the 17-year-old juvenile accused in the Nirbhaya gangrape case, the bench headed by Justice Sathasivam asked him to inform the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) not to pronounce judgment during pendency of the PIL in SC. 
    On the issue of determining the culpability of juveniles, the ministry of women and child development has filed an affidavit objecting to lowering of age of juveniles from 18 years as prescribed under the statute. 
    Opposing Swamy’s petition, the ministry said, “A child below the age of 18 years is denied most of his legal rights and the petitioner does not appreciate that change with respect to imposing liability on a person below 18 years has no legal or constitutional basis.”