Lok Sabha members oppose bill calling for trying 16-year-olds as adults

Several members in Lok Sabha on Wednesday opposed a bill that provides for treating boys aged 16 and above at par with adults for punishment for heinous crimes like rape.

Rehabilitation and not retribution should be the policy, said many members while expressing concern over amendments to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014.

The bill has been prepared against the backdrop of public outcry over the Delhi gangrape case of 2012 in which a juvenile accused got away with a ighter punishment because of his age.

Piloting the bill, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said in case a heinous crime has been committed by a person in the age group of 16-18 years it would be examined by a Juvenile Justice Board to assess if the crime was committed as a 'child' or as an 'adult'.

The trial of the juvenile, whether as an adult or child, would depend upon the opinion of the board which would comprise psychologists and social experts, she said.

The henious crimes, she said, would include those offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which attract jail term of over seven years.

The bill, she further said, proposed to modify the norms of adoption to ensure that uncared children find a suitable home as early as possible. As per the proposal, NRIs wanting to adopt a child be treated at par with resident Indians.

Although the members did not have problems with the provisions relating to adoption, they were divided over the issue of trying children between 16-18 years of age involved in henious crimes as adults.