Delhi High Court - Orders
Court On Its Own Motion vs State & Ors on 21 January, 2022
Author: Siddharth Mridul
Bench: Siddharth Mridul, Anup Jairam Bhambhani
$~S-12, S-13 and S-3
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CRL.REF. 1/2020
COURT ON ITS OWN MOTION ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr. H.S. Phoolka, Senior
Advocate (Amicus Curiae) with
Ms. Shilpa Dewan, Advocate.
versus
STATE & ORS. ..... Respondents
Through: Ms. Nandita Rao, ASC (Criminal),
GNCTD for the State with S.I.
Sanjeev, P.S.: Jaitpur.
Ms. Prabhsahay Kaur, Advocate
for Bachpan Bachao Andolan/R-2.
Mr. R.H.A. Sikander, Standing
Counsel for Delhi Commission for
Protection of Child Rights
(DCPCR)/R-3 with Mr. Anurag
Kundu, Chairperson, DCPCR.
Mr. Kanwal Jeet Arora, Member
Secretary, DSLSA.
Ms. Anu Grover Baliga, Secretary,
DHCLSC with Mr. Harsh
Prabhakar, Advocate for
DHCLSC.
13
+ W.P.(CRL) 1560/2017 & CRL. M.A. 49787/2018 (Exemption)
SADHAN HALDAR ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr. H.S. Phoolka, Senior
Advocate (Amicus Curiae) with
Ms. Shilpa Dewan, Advocate.
versus
THE STATE NCT OF DELHI & ORS. ..... Respondents
Through: Ms. Nandita Rao, ASC (Criminal),
GNCTD for the State with S.I.
Ramdev and S.I. Gunjan,
AHTU/Crime Branch.
Ms. Prabhsahay Kaur, Advocate
for Bachpan Bachao Andolan.
CRL.REF. 1/2020, W.P.(CRL) 1560/2017 and W.P.(CRL) 2563/2021 Page 1 of 4
Mr. R.H.A. Sikander, Standing
Counsel for Delhi Commission for
Protection of Child Rights
(DCPCR) with Mr. Jayant Bhatia,
Advocate for R-4 with Mr. Anurag
Kundu, Chairperson, DCPCR.
Mr. Anant Kumar Asthana,
Advocate for DSLSA/R-5.
Mr. Kanwal Jeet Arora, Member
Secretary, DSLSA.
Mr. Tushar Sannu, SC, EDMC/R-
8.
Mr. Anil Grover, SC with Ms.
Noopur Singhal, Advocate for
NDMC.
Mr. J.K. Singh, SC, Railways with
Mr. Amit Kumar, Advocate for
Railways/R-10.
Mr. Tarun Johri and
Mr.Vishwajeet Tyagi, Advocates
for DMRC/R-11.
Mr. Ripudaman Bhardwaj, CGSC
with Mr. Kushagra Kumar,
Advocate for UOI.
3
+ W.P.(CRL) 2563/2021
DELHI COMMISSION FOR PROTECTION OF CHILD
RIGHTS (DCPCR) ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr. Tushar Sannu, SC, DCPCR
with Ms. Vrinda Grover, Advocate
with Mr. Anurag Kundu,
Chairperson, DCPCR.
versus
GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL CAPITAL TERRITORY
OF DELHI & ORS. ..... Respondents
CRL.REF. 1/2020, W.P.(CRL) 1560/2017 and W.P.(CRL) 2563/2021 Page 2 of 4
Through: Ms. Nandita Rao, ASC (Criminal),
GNCTD for the State with S.I.
Surendra Das, P.S.: Shastri Park.
Mr. Anant Kumar Asthana,
Advocate for DSLSA/R-3.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SIDDHARTH MRIDUL
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANUP JAIRAM BHAMBHANI
ORDER
% 21.01.2022 In compliance of last order dated 16.12.2021, Ms. Nandita Rao, learned Additional Standing Counsel (Criminal) appearing for the State of Delhi, submits that a status report has been filed. However, the same is not on record. Let the same be brought on record.
In the meantime, the Delhi Government has placed on record a tabulated summary of the number of children in conflict with law/juveniles, who were detained in adult jails at Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli over the last five years and were subsequently transferred to juvenile homes. The total adds-up to an alarming number of about 800 such cases. The question therefore is, as to whether and if so what, further directions are required from this court to streamline the process of assessing the age of an arrestee, at the very first step when the person is brought to a police station. Submissions on this issue have been made by learned counsel appearing for the parties and various suggestions have come forth, including :
(i) implementation of the NALSA 'Scheme for Para-Legal Volunteers (Revised)' which inter-alia provides for the presence of paralegal volunteers in police stations, to apprise arrestees of their legal rights;CRL.REF. 1/2020, W.P.(CRL) 1560/2017 and W.P.(CRL) 2563/2021 Page 3 of 4
(ii) addition of certain entries in an Arrest Memo to incorporate the verified age of an arrestee; and
(iii) measures to ensure due application and compliance by all Magistrates of the mandate of Section 9(1) and 9(4) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, including Magistrates not empowered under the JJ Act, to ensure that in the intervening period, when an arrestee's claim of being 'juvenile' is being enquired into, such person is housed in a place of safety.
The above aspects have been debated at considerable length during today's hearing. However, the hearing remains inconclusive.
For further submissions in this behalf, list on 27.01.2021.
SIDDHARTH MRIDUL, J.
ANUP JAIRAM BHAMBHANI, J.
JANUARY 21, 2022/'AA' Click here to check corrigendum, if any CRL.REF. 1/2020, W.P.(CRL) 1560/2017 and W.P.(CRL) 2563/2021 Page 4 of 4