In response
to a letter petition by HRLN Lawyer Anant Asthana alleging that
juveniles are being shown as adults and are being incarcerated into
Jails and subsequent discovery of hundreds of juveniles in Tihar Jail
in the survey done by teams constituted by National Commission for
Protection of Child Rights, Delhi High Court has issued comprehensive
directions to eliminate incarceration of children into jails.
Some of the salient
features of these historic guidelines are detailed below:
Age Memo:
On the line of “Arrest Memo” which was evolved on the direction
of Supreme Court in order to curb illegal detention at police
stations, Delhi High Court has directed Police to incorporate “Age
Memo” in criminal investigations. Copies of such age memos have to
be immediately supplied to accused, his/her family and officials of
Legal Services Authority.
Inquiry
and Action against Police in case of lapse:
In each case of lapse, Deputy Commissioner of Police shall conduct
inquiry and action shall also be taken against the erring police
officials.
Mandatory
Legal Aid: Court has also issued detailed
guidelines to Juvenile Justice Boards to ensure that not a single
child goes unrepresented by a legal aid lawyer and has set in details
as to how effective and meaningful legal aid has to be provided to
juveniles. Official of District Legal Services Authorities have been
given responsibility to act as a check on police officials with a
view to ensure that they don’t produce persons below the age of 18
years in adult criminal courts.
In pursuance
of this Judgment, hundreds of persons incarcerated in Jails of Delhi
are now being produced before Juvenile Justice Boards and Courts
which are conducting age inquiries of such inmates. Among those who
have been incarcerated in Jails is a person who has served 14 years
in Jail already and another one is who was sentenced to death. Both
of them have now been declared juveniles and have been set at
liberty. These guidelines have been issued by Division Bench of
Hon’ble Delhi High Court comprising of Acting Chief Justice A.K.
Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahay Endlaw in Writ Petition (Civil) 8889 of
2011.
For
background details, click here:
Read the
Delhi High Court Judgment for further details of these historic
guidelines on our website (www.hrln.org)
For
further details, Contact:
Advocate
Anant Kumar Asthana
Email:
anant.asthana@hrln.org
Mobile:
92 12 11 71 05
