Over 40,000 pending cases before Juvenile Justice Act authorities, nullifying spirit of Act: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on recently expressed concern that more than 40,000 cases were pending before the authorities under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection Children) Act (JJ Act). [Bachpan Bachao Andolan & Anr. v. State of Maharashtra & Ors.].The Court observed that such a high pendency effectively nullifies the spirit of the JJ Act which calls for inquiries to be completed within four months..“Section 14(2) of JJ Act postulates that the inquiry by the Juvenile Justice Board shall be completed within a period of four months from the date of the first production of the child before the Board. With this legislative mandate, the figures of 10008 cases pending before the Juvenile Justice Board and 30043 cases pending before the Child Welfare Committee would amount to nullifying of the spirit of the Act,” the Court observed. .A division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Manjusha Deshpande made the observation while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by child rights organisation, Bachpan Bachao Andolan. .The organisation has urged the Court to direct the Maharashtra government to implement Supreme Court guidelines concerning the JJ Act and the provisions of the Act.During the hearing, the Court was told about the number of pending cases before the Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) and Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) and how such high pendency went against the objective of the JJ Act..The Court has now directed the State Women and Children Department to collect data on the disposal of cases before JJ Act institutions in the last three years. The details of pending cases should also be provided, the Court said. .“The JJBs and CWCs would give a note of explanation as regards reasons for pendency and difficulties, if any, faced by the Boards/Committees for early disposal of the cases. Once such data is collected, the Secretary, would analyse the responses received from the Boards/Committees and review the reasons/ suggestions given by the Boards/Committees regarding the pendency and thereafter, place the same before the Court by way of an affidavit,” the Court added..Another issue placed before the Court was regarding the software that has been developed to compile a database on missing children, trafficked children and follow-up reports in adoption cases. The Court has called for the status of this initiative and how the information collected is being used to achieve the objective of the JJ Act. The judges further directed the State and District Legal Services Authorities to inform the Court about the manner in which the authorities will assist in resolving the issue of high pendency of JJ Act cases..[Read order]