CHANDIGARH-March 22, 2012: Centre for Police Administration, University Institute of
Emerging Areas in Social Sciences (UIEASS), Panjab University organized a ‘Special
Lecture’ on ‘Juvenile Justice: A Saga of Negligence and Apathy’ by Dr. K.P. Singh,
Inspector General Prisons, Haryana for the Students of Centre for Police
Administration at P.U. Campus here today.
    Prof. Anil Monga, Coordinator, Centre for Police Administration while
welcoming        Dr. K. P. Singh stated that Juvenile Justice is one of the thrust
areas at the Centre for Police Administration and this lecture has been organized to
sensitize the students about the statutory provisions regarding Juvenile Justice along
with the problems in its implementation in India.
    Sh. K.P. Singh began his presentation by stating that ancient scriptures like
Ramayana showed that India was leader in Juvenile Jurisprudence, however we could not
carry forward this legacy in modern times. He highlighted that Juvenile Justice came
back into prominence with the Juvenile Justice Act of 1986, which was later revised
and re-enacted in the year 2000 to accommodate the international developments in this
area. While elaborating upon the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act along with the
amendments, he informed the students that there is a huge gap between the theory and
practice as the criminal justice machinery has not been properly sensitized about the
contents of the Act. He illustrated that Police is applying the provisions of Cr.P.C.
uniformly to both juveniles as well as adults, which is illegal. Further, he
highlighted a number of violations being committed by Police officials due to their
ignorance about the provisions of the Act. He concluded that this apathy and
negligence will continue till the citizens are sensitized about this Act and raise
their voice against these violations on various forums.
    Dr. Akshat Mehta, Assistant Professor, Centre for Police Administration while
proposing Vote of Thanks emphasized an urgent need to initiate strong measures by the
judiciary to shake the criminal justice machinery from its slumber for the effective
implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act.

    The lecture was followed by a lively discussion in which a large number of the
students and the faculty raised queries relating to the Juvenile Justice being
practiced in India. The other distinguished guests present on the occasion included
Prof. Sudhir Sharma, Prof. Pawan Kamra, Prof. Vijay Nagpal, Dr. Swaranjit Kaur, Mr.
Kuldeep Singh, Dr. L. S. Rana, Mr. Gaurav Gaur and Dr. P. S. Kang, Prof. Anil Monga,
Coordinator, UIEASS informed.  

Press Note No.193