Sanctity Of The Magic Number 18
There is indeed little insightful reading and that too only in the editorials, objective analysis and a courageous peek into the future of the economy
Newspapers are usually full of sensational news about murders, dacoities, abductions, rapes, sexual harassment, suicides – including those in police custody – contempt of court cases etc. or about traffic accidents, house collapses – especially in hill stations – urban floods and such other matters. There is indeed little insightful reading and that too only in the editorials, objective analysis and a courageous peek into the future of the economy. At times, one also comes across good news about infrastructure building, scientific advances, new discoveries, efforts to mitigate the damage by climate change or acts of bridging the inclusivity gaps.
I was, therefore, pleasantly surprised when recently one day a front page of a popular mainline daily carried reports of two cases that pointed to either subtle maturing of our Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) or where a patently wrong decision by the JJB, was followed by prompt corrective action by the judiciary. Let me mention the two truly heart-warming cases.
In October 2022, a 14-year-old girl from Uttarakhand went missing. A couple of days later her body was found. She had committed suicide because she was too ashamed to face her family and society as a minor boy had apparently circulated an obscene video of her. The girl’s father filed an FIR alleging that the boy’s crime, of shooting and circulating the video among students, had forced his daughter to take her life. The boy was booked under the Pocso Act for insulting the girl’s modesty and abetting her suicide. The JJB Hardwar took an exceptionally bold stand and denied bail to the ‘child in conflict with law’.
The boy’s mother filed a case in the Uttarakhand High Court which too upheld the JJB stand and gave a reasoned order in April 2024 declining bail to the juvenile. The order mentioned that for a child every offence is bailable but this can be denied by the court if there are reasonable grounds for believing that the child on bail might come into association with criminals who could expose him to moral, physical or psychological danger or his release could defeat the ends of justice. The boy’s mother then took the matter to the Supreme Court and, happily, the apex court also, on 20 May, upheld the high court judgement. I think this is a rare case of the JJB acting with admirable prudence and not succumbing to the usual practice of granting bail to every juvenile irrespective of the gravity of the case and its possible repercussions.
The other case involved a 17-year-old boy, who was driving a super expensive luxury car at 160 kmph – probably under the influence of liquor – who mowed down two innocent techies on a motorbike somewhere near Pune. The boy obviously had no driving licence and even the car was without a registration certificate. The JJB, as is usual, granted bail to the boy asking him – by way of fine/atonement – to ‘write a 300-word essay on ‘road accidents’ and also to help the RTO officials for 15 days. Obviously, in this case, there was little application of mind.
When the case came to the attention of the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, he was understandably livid and suggested that the JJB’s “lenient bail order on easy conditions” ought to be reviewed. He mentioned that the ‘police efforts are aimed at securing an order whereby the boy can be tried as an adult'. This brought the case into the media limelight and two days later, the boy’s father, his driver and another associate were detained by the police on charges of allowing the under-age boy, who lacks a driving license and proper training and who had also consumed alcohol – to drive the vehicle. A couple of pub owners and staffers were also picked up for serving liquor to minors without verifying their age. Still later the boy's mother and some doctors were also arrested as there were nasty attempts to switch his blood sample.
These two cases, to my mind, are positive steps for checking criminal acts, making JJBs think twice before routinely granting bail and in the event of a JJB faltering, the judiciary stepping in promptly with corrective steps. I think these are signs of societal maturity in line with the changing circumstances. If minors can do great things like setting up amazing startups, surely they are mature enough to face trial as majors. If their parents allow them to drink, drive cars and run big businesses, why should they be allowed to get away from facing the responsibility for their actions?
After all, what is the sanctity of the magic number 18 after which they are suddenly ready to face the world, but can commit heinous crimes and get away from them till they attain this threshold? Indeed, there are cases where criminal gangs deliberately involve a minor so that he/she may get away and blunt the prosecution’s case. Children all over the world are growing up rapidly, they are exposed to much more knowledge and learning earlier than at the age at which their parents did. Why shouldn’t the government, society and judiciary give a serious thought to lowering this age milestone to, say, 15 or else give more teeth to JJBs for taking judicious action in cases involving the lives of others!
