'I'll Confess We Failed … As Judges We Were Completely Hamstrung': Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani Flags Inadequacies Of Juvenile Justice System

Delhi High Court judge Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani on Saturday spoke extensively on the state of existing juvenile justice system in the country and its failings. He stressed on the need for early intervention against juvenile delinquency, and involvement of family in the rehabilitation of such children.Justice Bhambhani was speaking at an event organized by Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) along with 'Haq: Centre for Child Rights' on the topic "Justice, Trial, Proceeding & Pendency of POCSO Cases." He also recalled a recent case involving a minor, who was allegedly sexually abused by her own father and brother.Prevention Of Juvenile DelinquencyStressing on early intervention to prevent juvenile delinquency, Justice Bhambhani said research in foreign countries has thrown up certain variables which may help predict juvenile delinquency."For example, individual attributes of a child from the very beginning when he attends preschool or school, or attends even a community gathering somewhere. Is he aggressive? Is he overly competitive? Is he fair in his behaviour? Does he filch, does he pinch, does he steal. These are little things that can be observed by the community when the child is still very young."Justice Bhambhani added that nobody is a born errant, "much less is anybody born a criminal as it were.""These propensities developed by reason of the environment in which one grows up. These propensities evolve because of a defence mechanism in a lot of the cases. We have to be observant to see and attempt to predict elements of antisocial behaviour in children. Now, these attributes, research shows, can help identify the developmental trajectory of juveniles and children and paying attention to these variables especially within vulnerable communities can help predict later delinquent behaviour and help in its prevention," he said.The judge also explained the role played by family in nurturing the children and said, "children who are nurtured in environments where there is domestic violence for example, where there is drug and alcohol abuse, are likely candidates for future delinquency. So if the child sees the father beating the mother, chances are he thinks it is alright. He may not be his mother. He may be his friend. Now the gravity and the extent of the beating will decide whether he falls foul of the law or is it just a friendly brawl between two youngsters.""And these are things which are self evident, they are intuitive if you would only pay attention. Children growing up in families having criminal involvement and being nurtured in environments of criminality are also vulnerable. As I said, maybe because of a defence mechanism, so if a child is growing up in a very aggressive environment, in an environment where there are brawls in the colony all the time with neighbours etc, he thinks it's alright he has to have that same skill set in order to just defend themselves," Justice Bhambhani said.Stating that juvenile delinquency is not present only among the poor communities, Justice Bhambhani on Saturday said that children even from the rich communities are likely to be impelled towards delinquency in case they don't receive enough parental attention.The judge said that the assumption that only people from poor communities are having delinquency problems is a "misconceived notion.""So, juvenile delinquency is not born only from economic deprivation and this assumption that only people from poor communities are generally having delinquency problems, I think is a misconceived notion. And the archetypal rich brat whose father hands him the keys to his new BMW 7 series when the child is only 17 is an equally likely candidate for juvenile delinquency," the judge saidStating that child neglect is as pernicious as child abuse, Justice Bhambhani said that the families which are rich, "high fliers flitting around the globe all the time" having no time and attention to devote to the child also have to be "under the focus, under the spotlight".Role Of CourtsSpeaking in context of matrimonial disputes and their impact on children, Justice Bhambhani said the institutions are not correlated and integrated enough to appreciate what is happening in the other institution."So if there is a court, which is dealing with family disputes, with matrimonial matters, a family court is in a sense disjuncted from a juvenile court. So a judge who's presiding over a family court says my issue here is divorce, is consent, mutual consent or otherwise, is maintenance, is streedhan, it's alimony. And, yes, of course, visitation and custody of the child," he said. Continuing, Justice Bhambhani asked whether that judge can foresee the impact of that litigation on the child? "Does that judge also appreciate or is he or she sensitised to appreciate that this may actually turn that child into a juvenile delinquent? So there is a disjunct, there is a disjointedness between courts and institutions, just because they...

'I'll Confess We Failed … As Judges We Were Completely Hamstrung': Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani Flags Inadequacies Of Juvenile Justice System

Nupur Thapliyal

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