Delhi HC pulls up govt. for not taking steps on terminating inquiries against juveniles in petty offences

The high court noted that the State of Delhi has also not complied with its direction to apprise it of the number of cases where inquiries are pending in each JJB

The Delhi High Court Tuesday pulled up the Delhi government for not taking steps to comply with its order for terminating, with immediate effect, all cases where inquiries are pending against minors in alleged petty offences before the Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB), and have remained inconclusive for over a year.

The high court noted that the State has also not complied with its direction to apprise it of the number of cases where inquiries are pending in each JJB here for six months to one year, along with the date of institution of the inquiry and of the first production in each case.

When the court was informed that the government was waiting as some amendment was going on in the Rules and 10 days time was sought to produce juveniles before the JJBs, a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani said, “Children can't wait. Juveniles can't wait. You take as much time as you want but children cannot be put on hold.” During the hearing, the Delhi government showed a chart to the court where there was a difference of 409 minors in the number of juveniles produced before the JJB and released thereafter.