New Delhi: While it was only the Left parties who staged a walkout, there were other parties, like NCP, DMK, AIADMK and SP, which, raising concerns over reducing the age, also demanded that the bill be referred to a select committee.
Replying to the debate on the bill, women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi said, “Juvenile crime is the fastest rising segment of crime.” She termed it a “most compassionate” bill and added that no juvenile will be sent to jail directly as experts and psychologists of the Juvenile Justice Board will first decide whether the crime committed was “child-like” or whether it was committed in an “adult frame of mind”.
Allaying concerns, she said juveniles will still have the power to appeal even if a court decides that they will go to an adult jail. Calling the law a deterrent, she asked whether legislators need to protect the victims or the perpetrators. “Is poverty the only reason why some children turn criminal? How then does Sweden, with no poor people, have a high number of rape cases,” she asked.
As she mentioned that the juvenile convict in the Nirbhaya case was staying alongside Kashmiri terrorists and getting radicalised, leader of the Opposition in the RS Ghulam Nabi Azad raised concerns, saying, “One thing is very important - for these culprits there should be a different set-up for them. They shouldn’t be kept in the same cell with hardened criminals for fear that they could turn out even worse than they were.”
Mr Ram Jethmalani, meanwhile, said he was not in favour of the bill while Congress leader Renuka Chaudhary said her party was the architect of the bill. CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said the bill was “rushed through” the Rajya Sabha without thinking on ways to fight crime in detail. The Left parties wanted it sent to a select committee so that there was no haste in amending the law under emotional pressure.
Earlier, parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu reminded the House that the government had listed the bill thrice this session and a number of times in the last session. He said it was due to unnecessary discussion that the government was shy of bringing in the JJB as he once again accused the Opposition of not allowing the House to function.
