The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015

Key points

• Parliament passed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act in 2015.
• It replaced an earlier Act of 2000.
• A child is generally anyone below 18 years.
• A 16 to 18 year old accused of a heinous offence can be tried as an adult, in some cases.
• The change followed the 2012 Delhi gang rape case.

What led to the change

• The 2000 Act treated everyone below 18 as a juvenile, with no exception.
• In December 2012, a juvenile was among those accused in the Delhi gang rape case.
• He was dealt with under the old Act. The maximum stay in a special home was three years.
• Public anger asked whether very serious crimes by 16 and 17 year olds needed a different response.
• Parliament passed the new Act in December 2015. It came into force in January 2016.

Two kinds of children

• A “child in conflict with the law” is accused of an offence. The Board handles such a child.
• A “child in need of care and protection” is orphaned, abused or abandoned. The Committee handles such a child.
• The Act’s first aim is care and rehabilitation, not punishment.

The two bodies

• The Juvenile Justice Board has a judicial magistrate as principal member.
• It has two social workers. At least one must be a woman.
• The Board decides if a 16 to 18 year old should be tried as an adult.
• It does this after a preliminary assessment of the child’s mental and physical capacity to understand the crime.
• The Child Welfare Committee handles children who need care and protection.
• The preliminary assessment is meant to finish within three months.
• If the Board sends the case up, a Children’s Court decides whether to try the child as an adult.
• Even then, the Children’s Court can choose to treat the child as a child.
• Children are kept in observation homes, special homes or places of safety, not regular jails.

Heinous, serious, petty

• Even a child tried as an adult cannot be sentenced to death or to life without release.
• The Act also sets rules for adoption. The adoption authority is covered in CARA and India’s Adoption System.

Reform versus punishment

• Critics said adult trial clashes with the idea that juveniles should be reformed.
• Supporters said older juveniles can fully understand serious crimes.
• The case shows how one event can reshape a law.
• India ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992. The Act is meant to follow its spirit.
• The Constitution also supports special care for children through Article 15(3) and Article 39.
• The 2021 amendment made district magistrates responsible for adoption orders and for supervising Child Welfare Committees.
• It also said offences with a maximum of over seven years, but no minimum, count as “serious”.

Related reading

• The same 2012 case led to adult-law reform: Justice Verma Committee.
• School safety law: Laws Protecting Children in Indian Schools.
• Another welfare law: Parents and Senior Citizens Act.

Supreme Court, July 2026

• In July 2026 the Supreme Court decided X v. State of Bihar (2026 INSC 728). Source: Verdictum, 22 July 2026.
• Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan heard the case.
• The child argued murder was only a “serious” offence. Section 302 IPC does not use the word “minimum”.
• The Court rejected this. Life imprisonment is the least punishment for murder, so it is a heinous offence.
• The Court added that the protection against death or life without release does not change the offence’s class.