New Delhi: After years of wait, the government has finally introduced the Juvenile Justice Care and protection Bill 2014 in the Lok Sabha today.
This Act will give power to the Juvenile Justice Board to decide if juveniles between the ages of 16 – 18 should be tried as adults for despicable crimes like murder and rape.
It will also empower the Magistrate to decide whether a juvenile involved in certain crimes should be sent to correction facility or tried by a regular court.
But according to the amendment these suspects cannot be given Capital punishment or life imprisonment.
The amendment was spearheaded by Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi.
Currently, if an accused is found to be a juvenile, that is under 18 years of age, he is tried by the Juvenile Justice Board and, if convicted, is sent to a juvenile home for a period of three years.
The proposed changes in the law come against the backdrop of outrage over the lighter punishment of three years in a reform home given to a minor convicted in the December 16, 2012 Delhi gangrape case.
