Section 12 in The Tamil Nadu Prevention Of Begging Act, 1945
12. Production of arrested person under eighteen before Juvenile Court and procedure and powers of such Court.—
(1)If any person arrested by a Police-officer for an offence punishable under Section 3 has, in the opinion of such Police-officer, not attained the age of eighteen years, he shall be informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest, and shall be produced before the nearest Magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the Court of the Magistrate; and no such person shall be detained in custody beyond the said period without the authority of a Magistrate. On such production the Magistrate shall without delay direct the person to be taken before a Juvenile Court established under sub-section (i) of Section 36 of the Tamil Nadu Children Act 1920 (Tamil Nadu Act 4 of 1920). The person shall then be dealt with under the provisions of that Act as modified by the provisions of this Section;Provided that if the Juvenile Court is satisfied on inquiry that such person has attained the age of eighteen years it shall record a finding to that effect, and thereupon it shall be open to the Police to proceed against such person under Section 3, or if there is a work-house or a special home, under Section 5; and in the latter case the medical officer referred to in Section 5 shall be required to certify only regarding the physical capacity of such person for ordinary manual labour and the finding of the Juvenile Court regarding the age of such person shall also be binding on the Magistrate before whom he may be produced.(2)If the Juvenile Court finds on inquiry that any person brought before it under sub-section (1) has not attained the age of fourteen years and is guilty of an offence under Section 3 and that he—(a)has no home or settled place of abode or visible means of subsistence, or has no parent or guardian, or has a parent or guardian who does not exercise proper guardianship, or(b)is destitute and both his parents or his surviving parent, or in the case of an illegitimate child, his mother, are or is undergoing detention in prison on conviction,or(c)is under the care of a parent or guardian who by reason of criminal or drunken habits is unfit to have such care.the court may pass such order in respect of the offender as it could have passed if he had been brought before it under sub-section (1) of Section 29 of the Tamil Nadu Children Act 1920 (Tamil Nadu Act 4 of 1920);Provided that if the Juvenile Court is satisfied that it is inexpedient to send the offender to an approved school by reason of his bodily ailment or incapacity or other cause, the Court may, if there is a special home and separate accommodation is provided in such home for persons who have not attained the age of fourteen years, order him to be detained in such home for a period of not less than one year and not more than three years.(3)If the Juvenile Court finds on inquiry that a person produced before it under sub-section (1) has attained the age of fourteen years but has not attained the age of eighteen years and that he is guilty of an offence under Section 3, the Court may order him to be detained for a period of not less than one year and not more than three years—(a)in case it finds that he is physically capable of ordinary manual labour in a workhouse, if there is one, and(b)in case it finds that he is not physically capable of ordinary manual labour, in a special home, if there is one.
