ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 1 45 1 of 1985.
(Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. ) R.K. Jain and Yogeshwar Prasad, R.K. Khanna, R.K. Bha tt and Dalveer Bhandari for the Petitioner. V.C. Mahajan, Tapas Ray, A.S. Nambiar, S.B. Bhasm e, Kapil Sibal, R.B. Misra, A. Subhashini, Y.P. Rao, Ms. S. Janani, Ms. Urmila Kapur, D.K. Sinha, J.R. Dass, P.K. Man o- har, Ms. S. Vasudevan, M. Veerappa, Uma Nath, R.K. Mehta, V. Krishnamurthy, A.S. Bhasme, K.R. Nambiar, B.D Sharma, Ka i- lash Vasudev, D.N. 62 Mukherjee, D. Goburdhan, Ms. Kamini Jaiswal, T.V.S.N. Char i, Mahabir Singh, Probir Chowdhry, M.N. Shroff, A. Subba Ra o, R.S. Suri, G. Probhakar, K. Ram. Kumar, S.K. Bhattachary a, L.R. Singh, A.K. Sanghi, C.V. Subba Rao, R. Venkataraman i, Salman Khurshid, Gopal Singh, Mrs. Vimla Sinha and Mrs. H. Wahi for the Respondents. The following Order of the Court was delivered:
ORDER
This writ petition filed in 1985 has been heard on different occasions and several orders and directions ha ve been made from time to time with a view to providing reli ef to delinquent children detained in jails. On August 2 9, 1988, this Court made an order (1988 4 SCC 226) wherein so me such directions have been excerpted and it is not necessa ry to make any detailed reference to those directions now. In 1986 the District Judges of the entire country in response to the directions made by this Court supplie d, inter alia, the particulars of under trial and convict ed children found in regular jails within their respecti ve jurisdiction. On the basis of the said reports it was fou nd that in Assam, Bihar, Orissa, Punjab and West Bengal, t he number of such children in regular jails was 64, 247, 60, 63 and 437 respectively. There was no such child in any regul ar jail of Gujarat but in varying numbers not exceeding 30 to 35 they were found in other States. Thereafter some of t he States have filed affidavits indicating release from custo dy or transfer of such children from jails and have stated th at the position at present is very different and the number is either nil or negligible. With the lapse of two years' time since such reporti ng was done there is every likelihood of a change in th at position. Even otherwise, in the intervening period t he Juvenile Justice Act, 53 of 1986, (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act') has come into force in the whole of the cou n- try excepting the State of Jammu & Kashmir with effect fr om 2.10.1987. The Act provides for setting up of juveni le homes, special homes and observation homes by the Sta te Governments. Chapter IV provides for dealing with delinque nt juveniles. In this back-drop it is necessary to get fre sh detailed reports from the District Judges and update t he figures as to the exact number of delinquent juveniles, as defined in s. 2(a) of the Act, still detained in regul ar jails. At the same time it is necessary that a report as to whether juvenile 63 Courts as required under s. 5 of the Act have been set up and juvenile homes, special homes and observation homes ha ve been established as required by ss. 9, 10, and 11 should be obtained. Every District Judge is, therefore, directed by this order to report within 4 weeks from today to the Regi s- try of this Court through the Registrar of the appropria te High Court as to the exact position obtaining on 28.2. 19 89 in regard to the particulars indicated above. We would li ke to place on record that on the earlier occasion response to directions by this Court had taken more than six month s; repetitive adjournments had become necessary and complian ce was effected by indicating coercive steps. We hope and tru st there would be no repetition. Section 62 of the Act empowers the State Governments to make rules to carry out the purposes of the Act. The sche me of the Act is such that it cannot be properly enforc ed unless apropriate rules are framed and brought into forc e. Counsel appearing before us for the different States are n ot in a position to make a definite statement that the Stat es they represent have framed rules and brought them in to force. We, therefore, direct that the District Judges whi le making their reports shall also indicate whether rules ha ve been framed and whether such rules are already in forc e. Counsel appearing before us are also directed to inform t he Registry by written memorandum about the framing of rul es and bringing them into force in the respective States. If such rules have not been framed in any State, by this ord er we direct such State or States to frame the same on or before 7th of April, 1989 and to bring them into for ce without any further delay thereafter. Section 2(h) defines 'juvenile' to mean: "a boy who has not attained the age of sixteen years or a girl who has not attained the age of eighteen years." Official reports indicate that 35 to 40 per cent of t he total population of the country would be covered by t he definition. As such about 30 crores of young boys and gir ls come within the purview of the Act. There can be no t wo opinions that these children of today are the citizens of tomorrow's India and the country's future would necessari ly depend upon their proper hygiene--physical and mental. T he problem is, therefore, gigantic; at the same time, there is demand for immediate attention. Several counsel appeari ng before us have told us and we agree with their submissio ns that unless the importance of the matter is properly pe r- ceived and the response is adequate both in 64 regard to sufficiency of actions and immediacy of attentio n, the purpose of the Act cannot be fulfilled. Children requi re the protective umbrella of society for better growth a nd development as they are not in a position to claim the ir entitlement--to attention, growing up, food, education a nd the like. It is the responsibility of the society and is o ne of the paramount obligations of those who are in charge of governance of the country today to attend to the children to make them appropriate citizens of tomorrow. We are of the view that in the setting indicated t he matter perhaps requires overseeing by the Court. For coord i- nation between the Union Government and the State Governme nt and between authorities within the State, at the initi al stage and it would be in the interest of children that t he matter is obverseen by this Court and when the machinery is properly geared the responsibility of overseeing may be entrusted to the respective High Courts. With a view to working out the modality and to ma ke overseeing convenient, it is necessary that a scheme shou ld be evolved. Counsel appearing before us have suggested th at a group of advocates should be entrusted with the work of making a draft scheme and place it before the Court for i ts consideration. We accordingly nominate Messrs V.C. Mahaja n, Yogeshwar Prasad, R.K. Jain, Tapas Roy and Mukul Mudgal w ho are advocates appearing for some of the States to draw up a scheme and file it in the Registry of the Court by 7 th April, 1989.
As we pointed out earlier from the reports it has be en found that the number of children in regular jails were t he highest in West Bengal and Bihar. Mr. Tapas Roy representi ng the State of West Bengal relies upon an affidavit fil ed before this Court to contend that the position has substa n- tially changed subsequent to the reports and at prese nt perhaps the number of children in regular jails is eith er nil or very small. He has personally undertaken to colle ct the particulars and furnish the same by way of the memora n- dum to the Registry on or before 7th of April, 1989. So f ar as the State of Bihar is concerned, Mr. Goburdhan is not in a position to make any statement. From the analysis prepar ed based upon the report of the District Judges, it appea rs that there were 27 children in the District Jail of Deogar h, about 13 in the jails at Patna and 17 in the jails at Bh a- galpur. We are of the view that Mr. A.S. Nambiar, Sr. Adv o- cate of this Court should be appointed as Commissioner to visit these jails in the three districts of Bihar and co l- lect the necessary particulars of juvenile delinquents 65 housed in those jails and report to this Court on or befo re 7th of April, 1989. He shall be provided all facilities by the State Government and its officers as may be deem ed reasonable and necessary for implementing this direction. He shall also be entitled to reimbursement of his expenses. It becomes necessary that the Registry should ha ve appropriate funds to meet the expenses from time to tim e. We, therefore, direct that the Union of India shall depos it a sum of Rs.50,000 while each of the States of Bihar a nd West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh is directed to deposit a s um of Rs. 15,000. Such deposits shall be made on or before 15 th of April, 1989. The expenses have of course to be met by a ll the States but in due course an order directing other Stat es to pay to the fund and final apportionment, if necessar y, shall be ordered.
Notice be issued to the learned Attorney General to appear and assist the Court in this proceeding. The directions indicated above must be worked out with in the time frame as we are fixing the case for further heari ng at 2.00 P.M. on 24th of April, 1989. T.N.A.