The Act's Procedure, and the Child in Conflict with Law

In one line

Sections 10 to 30 provide for apprehension and inquiry by the Board, for a preliminary assessment under section 15 where a child of sixteen or above is alleged to have committed a heinous offence, for the orders the Board may pass, and for the Child Welfare Committee dealing with children in need of care and protection.

Apprehension and the first steps

Section 10. As soon as a child alleged to be in conflict with law is apprehended, they shall be placed under the charge of the special juvenile police unit or the designated child welfare police officer, who shall produce the child before the Board without any loss of time but within twenty-four hours, excluding journey time.

The proviso is important: in no case shall the child be lodged in a police lockup or a jail.

Section 12, bail. A person apprehended and alleged to be in conflict with law shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the Code, be released on bail with or without surety or placed under the supervision of a probation officer or under the care of a fit person, whether the offence is bailable or not.

Bail may be refused where there appear reasonable grounds for believing that release is likely to bring the person into association with any known criminal, or expose them to moral, physical or psychological danger, or that release would defeat the ends of justice, and the Board shall record the reasons.

That provision is a genuine reversal of the ordinary law, since bail is the rule regardless of the gravity of the offence and refusal requires recorded reasons falling within three stated grounds.

Section 13 requires information to the parent or guardian and to the probation officer. Section 14 requires the inquiry to be completed within four months, extendable, with a further provision for termination of proceedings in petty offences on delay.

Section 15: the preliminary assessment

This is the provision introduced by the 2015 Act that replaced the 2000 Act's uniform treatment.

In case of a heinous offence alleged to have been committed by a child who has completed or is above the age of sixteen years, the Board shall conduct a preliminary assessment with regard to:

the mental and physical capacity of the child to commit such offence;

the ability to understand the consequences of the offence;

and the circumstances in which the offence was allegedly committed.

The Board may take the assistance of experienced psychologists or psycho-social workers or other experts.

If the Board is satisfied that the child should be tried as an adult, it may pass an order transferring the trial to the Children's Court having jurisdiction, and section 19 governs the powers of that Court.