Supreme Court Prescribes 30 Days Time Limit To Prefer Appeal Against Juvenile Justice Board Preliminary Assessment Order

Noting that no time limit has been prescribed under the Juvenile Justice(Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 to prefer an appeal against the preliminary assessment order of the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), the Supreme Court in a recent judgment deemed it appropriate to fill up this gap by prescribing 30 days' time limit for preferring appeal against the JJB's preliminary assessment order.

The Court noted that neither any time has been fixed for filing the appeal nor any provision is provided for condonation of delay in case where the appeal is sought to be preferred under Section 101(2) of the JJ Act against the JJB's preliminary assessment order passed under Section 15(1).  The bench comprising Justices C.T. Ravikumar and Rajesh Bindal sought to fill up the gap by prescribing 30 days' time limit which otherwise does not go against the scheme of the Act.

“In our opinion, the same being an omission. In order to make the Act workable and putting timelines for exercise of statutory right of appeal which always is there, we deem it appropriate to fill up this gap, which otherwise does not go against the scheme of the Act. Hence, for the period for filing of appeal in Section 101(2), we take guidance from Section 101(1) of the Act. The period provided for filing the appeal therein is 30 days and in case sufficient cause is shown the power to condone the delay has also been conferred on the appellate authority. Timeline has also been provided for decision of appeal.”, the court said.

Section 101(1) of the JJ Act provides a 30-day time limit for preferring an appeal before the children's court against the order made by the Committee or the Board.

However, Section 101(2) of the JJ Act doesn't prescribe any time limit for preferring an appeal against the JJB preliminary assessment order. Section 101(2) states that:

"An appeal shall lie against an order of the Board passed after making the preliminary assessment into a heinous offence under section 15 of the Act, before the Court of Sessions and the Court may, while deciding the appeal, take the assistance of experienced psychologists and medical specialists other than those whose assistance has been obtained by the Board in passing the order under the said section."

Accordingly, while taking a guide from Section 101(1) of the Act, the court ordered to consider a 30-day time limit for filing an appeal under Section 101(2) of the Act against the decision of the JJB preliminary assessment order.

Also From Judgment: JJ Act | 3 Months Time Limit For Preliminary Assessment Of Juvenile As Per Sec. 14(3) Not Mandatory: Supreme Court

Case Title: CHILD IN CONFLICT WITH LAW THROUGH HIS MOTHER VERSUS THE STATE OF KARNATAKA AND ANOTHER

Citation : 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 353

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