Supreme Court Justice BV Nagarathna on Saturday stressed that the juvenile justice system must prioritise rehabilitation over punishment, observing that "when a child breaks the law, the law must not break the child."
Justice Nagarathna was delivering the opening remarks at the National Annual Stakeholders Consultation marking ten years of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, held at the Supreme Court.
Highlighting the challenges surrounding the treatment of children accused of serious offences, Justice Nagarathna observed,
"The question of treating a child in conflict with law as an adult represents one of the most delicate fault lines in our criminal justice system."
She emphasised that juvenile justice boards (JJBs) were not intended to function as miniature criminal courts and that the law recognised children's capacity for development and change.
Flagging serious institutional shortcomings, Justice Nagarathna cited a November 2025 India Justice Report study showing that 55% of cases before JJBs across 18 States and two Union Territories remained pending in 2023. The study also found that 24% of responding boards were functioning without their full complement of members.
Emphasising that disposal of proceedings alone could not determine the success of the juvenile justice system, she said,
"After all, a disposed case is not necessarily a rehabilitated child."
In his address, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant called for dedicated wings of specialised defence counsel to represent children. He also advocated coordinated training of police, judicial officers and psychologists, filling probation officer vacancies and protecting children's digital privacy.
The CJI released an e-compendium of landmark judgments concerning juvenile justice from 2015 to September 2026.
The two-day consultation, organised by the Supreme Court's Juvenile Justice Committee in association with UNICEF India, brought together judicial officers, government representatives and child protection experts to review implementation of the Act and identify priorities for the next decade.