Juvenile Justice Bill passed in LS

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the juvenile justice amendment bill which paves the way for children in the age group of 16-18 years to be tried as adults if they commit a heinous crime.

Opposition parties and child rights experts, however, termed the move a "disaster" and claimed that the government used its "brute majority" to get the bill through.

The amended Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014, which would replace the existing Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, is now likely to be taken up in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

The new bill clearly defines and classifies offences as petty, serious and heinous, and defines differentiated processes for each category.

The ministry of women and child development introduced the bill in the Lok Sabha in August 2014, but it was referred to the standing committee which recommended keeping the legally defined age of juvenile at 18 years.

However, the government bypassed the recommendations of the committee and decided to go ahead with reduction of age of juvenile offenders to 16 years when found involved in a heinous crime.

The bill was passed after the government agreed to delete a clause which said that "any person, who is apprehended after completing the age of 21 years, for committing any serious or heinous offence when such person was between the age of 16 to 18 years, then he shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be tried as an adult".

More than 40 official amendments moved by the government to the bill were adopted.