Over a year after the Supreme Court directed for a Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) to be formed in every district to effectively deal with cases of juveniles in conflict with the law, the order is yet to be implemented in every state. About 48 districts don't have a single JJB. Of the 675 districts that have JJBs, 166 lack the staff to function at full capacity. The backlog adds to piling up of legal cases. Though all of Maharashtra's 36 districts have JJBs, only 19 function at full strength.
The fact came to light after the Ministry of Women and Child Development filed a status report in the top court as per orders passed on February 9, 2018. As of July 31, 2019, all districts in each state and union territory, by and large, had a JJB. The report pointed the states where the SC order is yet to be a reality — Madhya Pradesh (43 out of 51), Telangana (10 out of 33), West Bengal (19 out of 23), Gujarat (29 out of 33), Arunachal Pradesh (21 out of 25), Delhi (6 out of 10), and Haryana (21 out of 22).
As per Section 4(1) of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015, it is mandatory for each district to have one or more JJBs. Similarly, Section 27(1) requires every state to constitute at least one Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in each district. But the Centre found that 43 districts lack even a CWC and 279 don't have adequate staff.
A JJB hears and disposes cases related to juvenile offenders, and CWCs receiving juveniles requiring care and protection and assign them to child-care institutions. They also conduct inquiries into complaints against these homes and flag a home unfit to take care of children.
Realizing the gap in the implementation of the Act and complying with the SC order, top officials from the Ministry wrote to Secretaries/Principal Secretaries of each state/UT to address the shortfall and make provisions to ensure that the existing JJBs/CWCs function at full strength.
The SC judgment in the Sampurna Behura (Feb 2018) case held, "It is high time that every district in every state have a JJB. An exception could perhaps be made, such as in some districts of Arunachal Pradesh, where there is perhaps no juvenile crime or, there could be some districts where the number of inquiries is very few in which event the JJB may appropriately schedule its sittings."
On filling up of vacancies too, the Court held, "State governments must ensure that all positions in the JJBs and CWCs are filled up expeditiously and in accordance with the Model Rules or Rules framed by the state. Any delay might adversely impact children."
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