Jammu and Kashmir Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2013
No: 7 Dated: Apr, 25 2013
THE JAMMU AND KASHMIR JUVENILE JUSTICE (CARE AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN) ACT, 2013
(Act No. VII of 2013)
An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to juveniles in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection, by providing for proper care, protection and treatment by catering to their development needs, and for the adjudication and disposition of matters in the best interest of children and for their ultimate rehabilitation and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Be it enacted by the State Legislature in the Sixty-fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows :-
CHAPTER I
Preliminary
1. Short title, commencement and application. - (1) This Act may be called the Jammu and Kashmir Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2013.
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Government may, by notification in the Government Gazette, appoint.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the provisions of this Act shall apply to all cases involving detention, prosecution, penalty or sentence of imprisonment of juveniles in conflict with law under such other laws.
2. Definitions. - (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "Act" means the Jammu and Kashmir Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2013 ;
(b) "advisory board" means the State Advisory Board or a District Advisory Board, as the case may be, constituted under section 60 ;
(c) "begging" means-
(i) soliciting or receiving alms in a public place or entering into any private premises for the purpose of soliciting or receiving alms, whether under any pretence ;
(ii) exposing or exhibiting with the object of obtaining or extorting alms, any sore, wound, injury, deformity or disease, whether of himself or of any other person or of an animal ;
(d) "Board" means the Juvenile Justice Board constituted under section 4 ;
(e) "child in need of care and protection" means a child-
(i) who is found without any home or settled place or abode and without any ostensible means of subsistence ;
(ii) who is found begging, or who is either a street child or a working child ;
(iii) who resides with a person (whether a guardian of the child or not) and such person-
(a) has threatened to kill or injure the child and there is a reasonable likelihood of the threat being carried out ; or
(b) has killed, abused or neglected some other child or children and there is a reasonable likelihood of the child in question being killed, abused or neglected by that person ;
(iv) who is mentally or physically challenged or ill child or children suffering from terminal diseases or incurable diseases having no one to support or look after ;
(v) who has a parent or guardian and such parent or guardian is unfit or incapacitated to exercise control over the child ;
(vi) who does not have parent and no one is willing to take care of or whose parents have abandoned or surrendered him or who is missing and run away child and whose parents cannot be found after reasonable inquiry ;
(vii) who is being or is likely to be grossly abused, tortured or exploited for the purpose of sexual abuse or illegal acts ;
(viii) who is found vulnerable and is likely to be inducted into drug abuse or trafficking ;
(ix) who is being or is likely to be abused for unconscionable gains ;
(x) who is victim of any armed conflict, civil commotion or natural calamity ;
(f) "children's home" means an institution established by the Government or by a voluntary organisation and certified by the Government under section 35 ;
(g) "Committee" means a Child Welfare Committee constituted under section 30 ;
(h) "competent authority" means in relation to children in need of care and protection a Committee and in relation to juveniles in conflict with law a Board ;
(i) "fit institution" means a governmental or a registered nongovernmental organisation or a voluntary organisation prepared to own the responsibility of a child and such organisation is found fit by the Government on the recommendation of the competent authority ;
(j) "fit person" means a person, being a social worker or any other person, who is prepared to own the responsibility of a child and is found fit by the competent authority to receive and take care of the child ;
(k) "Government" means the Government of Jammu and Kashmir ;
(l) "guardian" in relation to a child, means his natural guardian or any other person having the actual charge or control over the child and recognised by the competent authority as a guardian in course of proceedings before that authority ;
(m) "juvenile" or "child" means a person who has not completed eighteenth year of age ;
(n) "juvenile in conflict with law" means a juvenile who is alleged to have committed an offence and has not completed eighteenth year of age as on the date of commission of such offence ;
(o) "narcotic drug" and "psychotropic substance" shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (Central Act No. 61 of 1985) ;
(p) "observation home" means a home established by the Government or by a voluntary organization and certified by the Government under section 9 as an observation home for the juvenile in conflict with law ;
(q) "offence" means an offence punishable under any law for the time being in force ;
(r) "place of safety" means any place or institution (not being a police lock-up or jail), the person incharge of which is willing temporarily to receive and take care of the juvenile and which, in the opinion of the competent authority, may be a place of safety for the juvenile ;
(s) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under the Act ;
(t) "probation officer" means an officer appointed by the Government as a Probation Officer under the Jammu and Kashmir Probation of Offenders Act, 1966 (XXXVII of 1966) ;
(u) "public place" shall have the meaning assigned to it in the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (Central Act No. 104 of 1956) ;
(v) "shelter home" means a home or a drop-in-centre set up under section 38 ;
(w) "special home" means an institution established by the Government or by a voluntary organisation and certified by the Government under section 10 ;
(x) "special juvenile police unit" means a unit of the police force of the State designated for handling of juveniles or children under section 62 ;
(y) "State" means the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
(2) Words and expressions used but not defined in the Act and defined in the Code of Criminal Procedure, Samvat 1989 shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Code.