Innocence Of Age Ends Where Heinous Crime Begins: A Critical Analysis Of Juvenile Criminal Responsibility In India With Comparative Perspectives On Legal Reform And Rehabilitation Of Young Offenders
- IJLLR Journal
- May 8
- 1 min read
Mrs. Samundeeswari S, LL.B., Vels Institute of Science Technology and Advanced Studies, Vels University
ABSTRACT
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 introduced the Section 15 preliminary assessment mechanism enabling children aged sixteen to eighteen accused of heinous offences to be tried as adults — a paradigm shift from the absolute age shield upheld by the Supreme Court in Salil Bali v. Union of India (2013). This article critically examines the constitutional, procedural, and institutional adequacy of this mechanism. Drawing upon Articles 14, 15(3), 20(1), 21, and 39(f) of the Constitution of India, 1950, doctrinal analysis of post-2015 Supreme Court and High Court jurisprudence — including Shilpa Mittal v. State (NCT of Delhi) (2020), Gaurav Kumar v. State of Haryana (2019), Vijay Sharma v. Union of India (2018), and Abuzar Hossain v. State of West Bengal (2012) — and comparative jurisprudence from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and South Africa, the article argues that the conditioned accountability model is constitutionally valid in principle but procedurally underdeveloped and dispositionally compromised in practice. The principal reform mandate lies not in tightening the adult trial mechanism but in transforming India's rehabilitation infrastructure. Concrete legislative, judicial, and institutional reforms are advanced, including amendment to Section 2(33), statutory sentencing guidelines, mandatory victim participation rights, and the adoption of evidence-based rehabilitation programming. The article concludes that legal reform and rehabilitative deepening are not competing objectives but inseparable elements of a constitutionally and humanely adequate juvenile justice response.
Keywords: Juvenile Justice; Heinous Offence; Section 15 Preliminary Assessment; Age of Criminal Responsibility; Rehabilitation; Constitutional Safeguards; Reformative Jurisprudence; Comparative Juvenile Law.
