Section 13 in The Juvenile Justice (Care And Protection Of Children) Rules, 2007
13. Post-production processes by the Board.
(1)On production of the juvenile before the Board, the report containing social background of the juvenile and circumstances of apprehension and offence alleged to have been committed provided by the officers, individuals, agencies producing the juvenile shall be reviewed by the Board, and the Board shall pass the following order in the first summary inquiry on the same day, namely:-(a)dispose off the case, if the evidence of this conflict with law appears to be unfounded or where the juvenile is involved in trivial law breaking;(b)transfer to the Committee, matters concerning juveniles clearly stated to be in need of care and protection in the Police report submitted to the Board at the time of production of the juvenile;(c)release the juvenile in the supervision or custody of fit persons or fit institutions or probation officers, as the case may be, through an order in Form I, with a direction to appear or present a juvenile for an inquiry on a next date;(d)detain the juvenile in an Observation Home or fit institution pending inquiry, only in cases of juvenile's involvement in serious offences as per an order in Form II;(e)in all cases of release pending inquiry, the Board shall notify the next date of hearing, not later than 15 days of the first summary enquiry and also seek social investigation report from the concerned Probation Officer through an order in Form III;(2)The Board shall take the following steps to ensure fair and speedy inquiry, namely:-(a)at the time of initiating the inquiry, the Board shall satisfy itself that the juvenile in conflict with law has not been subjected to any ill-treatment by the Police or by any other person, including a lawyer or probation officer and take corrective steps in case of such ill-treatment;(b)in all cases under the Act the proceedings shall be conducted in as simple a manner as possible and care shall be taken to ensure that the juvenile, against whom the proceedings have been instituted, is given child-friendly atmosphere during the proceedings;(c)every juvenile brought before the Board shall be given the opportunity to be heard and participate in his inquiry;(d)cases of petty offences, if not disposed off by the Special Juvenile Police Unit or at the Police Station itself, may be disposed off by the Board through summary proceedings or inquiry, while in cases of heinous offences entailing punishment of 7 years or more, due process of inquiry in detail may follow;(e)even in cases of inquiry pertaining to serious offences the Board shall follow the procedure of trial in summons cases.(3)When witnesses are produced for examination in inquiry relating to a juvenile in conflict with law, the Board shall keep in mind that the inquiry is not to be conducted in the spirit of strict adversarial proceedings and it shall use the powers conferred by section 165 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872) so as to question the juvenile and proceed with the presumptions that favour the juvenile's right to be restored.(4)While examining a juvenile in conflict with law and recording his statement, the Board shall address the juvenile in a child-friendly manner in order to put the juvenile at ease and to encourage him to state the facts and circumstances without any fear, not only in respect of the offence of which the juvenile is accused, but also in respect of the home and social surroundings and the influence to which the juvenile might have been subjected.(5)The Board may take into account the report of the Police containing circum-stances of apprehension and offence alleged to have been committed and the social investigation report in Form IV prepared by the Probation Officer or the voluntary organisation on the orders of the Board as per Form III, along with the evidence produced by the parties for arriving at a conclusion about the juvenile.(6)Every inquiry by the Board shall be completed within a period of four months after the first summary inquiry and only in exceptional cases involving trans-national criminality, large number of accused and inordinate delay in production of witnesses, the period of inquiry may be extended by two months on recording of reasons by the Board.(7)In all other cases except where the nature of alleged offence is serious, delay beyond four to six months shall lead to the termination of the proceedings.(8)Where the proceedings are delayed beyond six months on account of serious nature of the offence alleged to have been committed by the juvenile, the Board shall send a periodic report of the case to the Chief Judicial Magistrate or Chief Metropolitan Magistrate stating the reason for delay as well as steps being taken to expedite the matter.
