New Delhi, March 18 (IANS) Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy Monday told the Supreme Court that before declaring someone as a juvenile it should be assessed that he or she is “emotionally and intellectually” less than 18 years.
Swamy told the apex court bench of Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan and Justice Dipak Misra that though the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, was made in pursuance to the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 1985 United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, it did not adhere to some of the principles of the two international covenants.
The Juvenile Justice Act did not adhere to the international covenants and fixed 18 years as the maximum limit for declaring a person as a juvenile, he said.
Swamy sought the reframing of some sections of the Juvenile Justice Act to incorporate that the emotional and intellectual maturity of a person should be assessed before declaring him as juvenile.
The court asked him to serve a copy of his petition to the central government.
