Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 in India: JJB, CWC, Procedure, Reformation and Rehabilitation

By: Pragya Sinha

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, usually called the JJ Act, is India’s main law for two groups of children: a child “in conflict with law” (a person under 18 who is alleged or found to have committed an offence) and a child “in need of care and protection” (for example, an abandoned, orphaned, lost, abused or working child). It is Act No. 2 of 2016, received the President’s assent on 31 December 2015 and came into force on 15 January 2016, replacing the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.

Children in conflict with law go before a Juvenile Justice Board (JJB); children in need of care and protection go before a Child Welfare Committee (CWC). The Board holds an inquiry, not a criminal trial, and passes reformative orders such as counselling, community service, probation or a stay of up to three years in a special home. Only a child aged 16 to 18 accused of a “heinous” offence can be tried as an adult, and only after a preliminary assessment. The Act was last amended by the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2021, in force from 1 September 2022.

Reviewed and updated by Century Law Firm, Delhi – October 2026. Statutory references are to the Acts as in force on that date. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 is quoted from its current English text on India Code (file a2016-2.pdf, incorporating the 2021 amendments; India Code prints no “as on” date for it, and no later amending Act was found on 23 October 2026), Hindi terms from the Legislative Department’s Hindi text, and the other Acts, notifications and a Supreme Court judgment from the official texts listed under Sources at the end. Originally written by Pragya Sinha.

What is the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015?

It is a Central Act “to consolidate and amend the law relating to children alleged and found to be in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection”. It “extends to the whole of India” (Section 1(2)); the old exclusion of Jammu and Kashmir was omitted from 31 October 2019. Under Section 1(4) it applies, “Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force”, to “all matters concerning children in need of care and protection and children in conflict with law”, from apprehension and prosecution to rehabilitation, adoption and restoration. The nodal ministry is the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

When was it implemented? According to India Code’s legislative note, the Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 7 May 2015 and by the Rajya Sabha on 22 December 2015. The President assented on 31 December 2015, and the Central Government brought the Act into force on 15 January 2016 by notification S.O. 110(E) dated 12 January 2016.

Objectives of the Act

The long title states the objectives: to cater to children’s basic needs “through proper care, protection, development, treatment, social re-integration, by adopting a child-friendly approach in the adjudication and disposal of matters”, and to provide “for their rehabilitation through processes provided, and institutions and bodies established” under the Act. “Reformation and rehabilitation”, the words in this article’s original title, sum up that approach.

The preamble links the Act to Article 15(3) (“Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children”), Article 39(e) and (f) (under clause (f), childhood and youth to be “protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment”), Article 45 (as substituted by the Eighty-sixth Amendment, 2002, with effect from 1 April 2010: “early childhood care and education” up to the age of six; the right to education for ages six to fourteen is in Article 21A) and Article 47, and to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which India acceded on 11 December 1992.

How the law developed: 1986, 2000 and 2015

The penal code exempts a child under seven, and a child of seven to twelve lacking “sufficient maturity of understanding” (Sections 20 and 21 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, formerly Sections 82 and 83 IPC). A separate system for older children came through three Central Acts:

• The Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 (Act No. 53 of 1986): ““juvenile” means a boy who has not attained the age of sixteen years or a girl who has not attained the age of eighteen years” (Section 2(h)).
• The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (Act No. 56 of 2000): ““juvenile” or “child” means a person who has not completed eighteenth year of age” (Section 2(k)), one age for boys and girls; it repealed the 1986 Act (Section 69(1)).
• The 2015 Act repealed the 2000 Act (Section 111(1)). India Code’s legislative note says it followed “national outrage catalyzed by the 2012 Delhi gang rape case”, in which one of the convicts was months short of 18, and introduced a separate track for 16 to 18-year-olds accused of heinous crimes.

Other salient features of the 2015 Act are the three-way classification of offences, time limits for every inquiry, compulsory registration of child care institutions, a chapter on adoption under which the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) works, and a chapter of offences against children.

Key definitions in Section 2

Section 2(12): ““child” means a person who has not completed eighteen years of age”; Section 2(35): ““juvenile” means a child below the age of eighteen years”. Section 2(13): ““child in conflict with law” means a child who is alleged or found to have committed an offence and who has not completed eighteen years of age on the date of commission of such offence”. So a person who is 19 when apprehended for something done at 17 is still treated as a child during the inquiry (Section 6).

A “child in need of care and protection” (Section 2(14)) is a child in any of twelve situations: without a home or means of subsistence; working in breach of the Act or labour laws, begging or living on the street; living with a person who has injured, abused, exploited or neglected him or threatened to; mentally ill or disabled or terminally ill with no one to care for him; with a parent or guardian found unfit; one who “does not have parents and no one is willing to take care of and protect or who is abandoned or surrendered” (as substituted in 2021); missing or runaway; abused or likely to be abused or exploited; vulnerable to drug abuse or trafficking; abused for unconscionable gains; affected by armed conflict, civil unrest or natural calamity; or “at imminent risk of marriage before attaining the age of marriage”.

An “abandoned child” is one deserted by his parents or guardians and so declared by the Committee after inquiry (Section 2(1)); a “surrendered child” is one relinquished by the parent or guardian to the Committee for factors beyond their control (Section 2(60)).

Petty, serious and heinous offences

• Petty offences (Section 2(45)): “the offences for which the maximum punishment under the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) or any other law for the time being in force is imprisonment up to three years”.
• Serious offences (Section 2(54), as substituted in 2021): offences punishable with “(a) minimum imprisonment for a term more than three years and not exceeding seven years; or (b) maximum imprisonment for a term more than seven years but no minimum imprisonment or minimum imprisonment of less than seven years is provided.”
• Heinous offences (Section 2(33)): “the offences for which the minimum punishment under the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) or any other law for the time being in force is imprisonment for seven years or more”.

Before 1 September 2022, “serious offences” were those punishable with “imprisonment between three to seven years”. In X v. State of Bihar (2026 INSC 728, 21 July 2026) the Supreme Court explained that its earlier decision in Shilpa Mittal had noticed a fourth category – offences with a minimum below seven years, or none, but a maximum above seven – which the 2021 Amendment added as clause (b). The test is: “the first question to be asked is what is the minimum punishment prescribed for the offence”. A minimum of seven years or more makes it heinous; otherwise the maximum decides whether it is petty (up to three years) or serious. Murder under “Section 302 of the IPC, now, Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023” “carries life imprisonment as its minimum punishment. It would therefore be categorized as a “heinous offence”.”

General principles (Section 3)

Section 3 lists sixteen principles that guide the Governments, the Board, the Committee and other agencies. The first: “Any child shall be presumed to be an innocent of any mala fide or criminal intent up to the age of eighteen years.” Others include the child’s right to be heard, privacy, non-stigmatising semantics (“Adversarial or accusatory words are not to be used in the processes pertaining to a child”), institutionalisation “as a measure of last resort”, and a fresh start (“All past records of any child under the Juvenile Justice system should be erased except in special circumstances”).

Juvenile Justice Board (JJB): Sections 4 to 9

JJB stands for Juvenile Justice Board. The State Government must constitute “for every district, one or more Juvenile Justice Boards” (Section 4(1)), and the Board has “the power to deal exclusively with all the proceedings under this Act, relating to children in conflict with law” in its area (Section 8(1)). It is what most people mean by a “juvenile court”.

Section 4(2): “A Board shall consist of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of First Class not being Chief Metropolitan Magistrate or Chief Judicial Magistrate (hereinafter referred to as Principal Magistrate) with at least three years experience and two social workers selected in such manner as may be prescribed, of whom at least one shall be a woman, forming a Bench”. A social worker must have been active in health, education or welfare work for children “for atleast seven years” or be “a practicing professional with a degree in child psychology, psychiatry, sociology or law” (Section 4(3)). Persons with a record of rights violations, a moral-turpitude conviction, dismissal from government service, or involvement in child abuse or child labour are ineligible (Section 4(4)). Training is due within sixty days of appointment (Section 4(5)), and a member other than the Principal Magistrate can be removed for misuse of power, three months’ continuous absence without valid reason, or failing to attend “minimum three-fourths of the sittings in a year” (Section 4(7)).

Procedures must be “child friendly” and the venue must not be intimidating or “resemble as regular courts” (Section 7(1)). Final disposal, or an order transferring a case for adult trial, needs at least two members including the Principal Magistrate; the majority prevails, and the Principal Magistrate’s view prevails if there is no majority (Section 7(3) and (4)). The Board must ensure legal aid, call for a social investigation report “within a period of fifteen days from the date of first production”, inspect residential facilities monthly, and inspect adult jails to move any child found there (Section 8(3)).

Turning 18, age claims and age determination

If the child turns 18 during the inquiry, the Board continues “as if such person had continued to be a child” (Section 5). A claim to have been a child on the date of the offence “may be raised before any court and it shall be recognised at any stage, even after final disposal of the case” (Section 9(2)); if it succeeds, the case goes to the Board and any sentence is “deemed to have no effect” (Section 9(3)). Age is proved first by school or matriculation certificates, then a municipal or panchayat birth certificate, and “only in the absence of” these by a medical test (Section 94(2)).

Children in conflict with law: the procedure (Sections 10 to 26)

Apprehension and production within 24 hours

Section 10(1): “As soon as a child alleged to be in conflict with law is apprehended by the police, such child shall be placed under the charge of the special juvenile police unit or the designated child welfare police officer, who shall produce the child before the Board without any loss of time but within a period of twenty-four hours of apprehending the child excluding the time necessary for the journey”. The proviso: “in no case, a child alleged to be in conflict with law shall be placed in a police lockup or lodged in a jail.”

Each police station may designate an officer, not below assistant sub-inspector, as child welfare police officer, and each district and city has a Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU) headed by an officer not below Deputy Superintendent of Police, with two social workers, one a woman (Section 107). The parents and the probation officer must be informed; the probation officer submits a social investigation report “within two weeks” (Section 13).

Bail for a child (Section 12)

Section 12(1): “When any person, who is apparently a child and is alleged to have committed a bailable or non-bailable offence, is apprehended or detained by the police or appears or brought before a Board, such person shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) or in any other law for the time being in force, be released on bail with or without surety or placed under the supervision of a probation officer or under the care of any fit person:

Provided that such person shall not be so released if there appears reasonable grounds for believing that the release is likely to bring that person into association with any known criminal or expose the said person to moral, physical or psychological danger or the person’s release would defeat the ends of justice, and the Board shall record the reasons for denying the bail and circumstances that led to such a decision.”

A child not released is kept in an observation home or place of safety, never a lockup (Section 12(2) and (3)), and a child who cannot meet the bail conditions within seven days must be produced again “for modification of the conditions of bail” (Section 12(4)). For adults, see the firm’s page on the rights of an arrested person.

Inquiry and time limits (Sections 14 and 16)

Section 14(2): “The inquiry under this section shall be completed within a period of four months from the date of first production of the child before the Board, unless the period is extended, for a maximum period of two more months by the Board”. A preliminary assessment must be disposed of “within a period of three months from the date of first production” (Section 14(3)). A petty-offence inquiry still inconclusive after the extended period stands terminated; for serious or heinous offences, more time can be given only by the Chief Judicial Magistrate or Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Section 14(4)). Petty offences are decided by summary proceedings, serious offences by the summons-case procedure, and heinous offences by a child under 16 in the same way as serious ones (Section 14(5)). The CJM or CMM reviews pending cases every three months, and since 2021 the District Magistrate may call for information from the Board and the Committee (Section 16).

Preliminary assessment for heinous offences by children aged 16 to 18 (Section 15)

Section 15(1): “In case of a heinous offence alleged to have been committed by a child, who has completed or is above the age of sixteen years, the Board shall conduct a preliminary assessment with regard to his mental and physical capacity to commit such offence, ability to understand the consequences of the offence and the circumstances in which he allegedly committed the offence, and may pass an order in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 18”. The proviso lets the Board “take the assistance of experienced psychologists or psycho-social workers or other experts”, and the Explanation says “preliminary assessment is not a trial”.

The Board either keeps the case and passes Section 18 orders (appealable to the Court of Session, Section 101(2)), or, finding “a need for trial of the said child as an adult”, may transfer it to the Children’s Court (Section 18(3)).

In Barun Chandra Thakur v. Bholu (2023) 12 SCC 401 (decided 13 July 2022), as quoted by the Supreme Court in X v. State of Bihar (2026), the Court held that “where the Board is not comprising of a practising professional with a degree in child psychology or child psychiatry, the expression “may” in the proviso to Section 15(1) would operate in mandatory form”, so that such a Board must take the help of experienced psychologists or psycho-social workers. In X the Court added that the Board “is not bound by any opinion or recommendation and must independently apply its mind to all the material available to it”, and referred to guidelines on preliminary assessment formulated by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in April 2023.

Orders the Board can pass (Sections 17 and 18)

If the child has not committed any offence, the Board says so and may refer the child to the CWC (Section 17). If the child has committed a petty or serious offence, or a heinous offence when under 16 (or above 16 where the Board kept the case after preliminary assessment), the Board may, under Section 18(1):

• allow the child to go home “after advice or admonition”, with counselling for the child and parents;
• direct group counselling, or community service under supervision;
• order the child or the parents to pay a fine;
• release the child on probation of good conduct with a parent, guardian, fit person or fit facility “for any period not exceeding three years”;
• send the child “to a special home, for such period, not exceeding three years”, for “education, skill development, counselling, behaviour modification therapy, and psychiatric support”.

The Board may add directions to attend school, a vocational training centre or a therapeutic centre, keep away from a place, or undergo de-addiction (Section 18(2)). The Model Rules, 2016, as notified, define “community service” as service rendered by children in conflict with law “above the age of fourteen years”.

The Children’s Court and trial as an adult (Sections 19 and 20)

A “Children’s Court” is a court under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005 or a POCSO Special Court, and otherwise “the Court of Sessions having jurisdiction to try offences under the Act” (Section 2(20)). On a transfer, it decides afresh whether “there is a need for trial of the child as an adult”, considering “the special needs of the child, the tenets of fair trial and maintaining a child friendly atmosphere”; if not, it holds the inquiry itself as a Board (Section 19(1)). A child convicted after an adult trial is sent to “a place of safety till he attains the age of twenty-one years” and is then transferred to a jail (Section 19(3)), unless at 21 the court releases him on conditions (Section 20).

Barred orders and other protections

Section 21: “No child in conflict with law shall be sentenced to death or for life imprisonment without the possibility of release, for any such offence, either under the provisions of this Act or under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) or any other law for the time being in force.” In X v. State of Bihar the Supreme Court explained that Section 21 “does not bar the award of the sentence of imprisonment for life altogether”; it ensures “that a juvenile is not incarcerated for the entirety of his natural life”.

• No joint trial with adults (Section 23), and no security proceedings under Chapter VIII of the old Code, now Chapter IX of the BNSS (Section 22).
• Identity protected: no report in the media may disclose the name, address, school or any identifying particular of a child in conflict with law, a child in need of care and protection, or a child victim or witness, unless the Board or Committee permits it for recorded reasons (Section 74). The police may not disclose a child’s record for a character certificate or otherwise in a closed or disposed-of case and, since 2021, in a pending case (Section 74(2)).
• No disqualification: a child dealt with under the Act “shall not suffer disqualification, if any, attached to a conviction”, and the records are destroyed after the appeal period or a prescribed reasonable period (Section 24). This does not apply to a child of 16 or above found in conflict with law after an adult trial; in a heinous offence those records are “retained by the Children’s Court”.

Appeal and revision (Sections 101 and 102)

Any person aggrieved by an order of the Board or the Committee may appeal to the Children’s Court “within thirty days from the date of such order”, except that appeals against Committee decisions on foster care and sponsorship after care lie to the District Magistrate (Section 101(1)); an order after preliminary assessment is appealable to the Court of Session (Section 101(2)). Under Section 101(3), “No appeal shall lie from any order of acquittal made by the Board in respect of a child alleged to have committed an offence other than the heinous offence by a child who has completed or is above the age of sixteen years”; the 2021 Amendment re-enacted this sub-section without the former bar on appeals against a Committee’s finding that a person is not a child in need of care and protection. There is no second appeal, and the High Court has revisional powers (Sections 101(4) and 102). See the firm’s guide to review, revision and appeal.

Child Welfare Committee (CWC): Sections 27 to 30

CWC stands for Child Welfare Committee. Children in need of care and protection are handled by the CWC: the State Government constitutes “for every district, one or more Child Welfare Committees” (Section 27(1)), and a Committee has “the power to deal exclusively with all proceedings under this Act relating to children in need of care and protection” (Section 29(2)). It sits “at least twenty days in a month” (Section 28(1)).

Point	Juvenile Justice Board	Child Welfare Committee
Deals with	Children in conflict with law (Section 8(1))	Children in need of care and protection (Section 29(2))
Members	Principal Magistrate and two social workers, at least one a woman (Section 4(2))	Chairperson and four members, at least one a woman and one with expertise in matters concerning children (Section 27(2))
Quorum for final orders	Two, including the Principal Magistrate (Section 7(3))	Three members (Section 28(5))
Main orders	Advice, counselling, community service, fine, probation, special home up to 3 years; transfer for adult trial (Section 18)	Restoration, children’s home, fit person, foster care, sponsorship, legally free for adoption (Section 37)
Time limit	4 months, extendable by 2 (Section 14)	Final order within 4 months of first production (Section 36(2))

The Committee has “a Chairperson, and four other members … of whom at least one shall be a woman and another, an expert on the matters concerning children” (Section 27(2)); no one may serve “for a period of more than three years” (Section 27(6)). Since 2021, a member needs a degree in a listed subject (such as child psychology, law, social work, sociology or education) plus seven years’ work for children, or practice with such a degree (Section 27(4)), and anyone who “is part of management of a child care institution in a District” is barred, along with disqualifications similar to those for Board members (Section 27(4A)).

The District Magistrate’s role (strengthened in 2021)

• The District Magistrate “shall conduct a quarterly review of the functioning of the Committee” (Section 27(8)); the quarterly review dates from 2016, and since 2021 the Committee also submits a report to the District Magistrate.
• The District Magistrate is “the grievance redressal authority” for the Committee (Section 27(10)); since 2021 a complaint by the affected child or anyone connected with the child is decided after hearing the parties.
• New in 2021: the District Child Protection Unit works “under the supervision of the District Magistrate”, which includes an Additional District Magistrate (Section 2(26) and (26-A)), and the District Magistrate may call for information from the Board and the Committee (Section 16(4)).

Its functions (Section 30) include foster care placements, two inspection visits a month of residential facilities, certifying surrender deeds, declaring children legally free for adoption, and “taking suo motu cognizance of cases … provided that such decision is taken by at least three members”.

Children in need of care and protection: the procedure (Sections 31 to 38)

A child in need of care and protection may be produced before the Committee by the police, any public servant, Childline Services or a recognised voluntary organisation, “any social worker or a public spirited citizen”, “the child himself”, or a doctor or hospital, among others, within twenty-four hours excluding journey time (Section 31(1)). Anyone who finds or is handed a child who appears to be abandoned, lost or an orphan must, within twenty-four hours, inform Childline Services, the police, the CWC or the District Child Protection Unit, or hand the child to a registered institution (Section 32(1)); failure is punishable with “imprisonment up to six months or fine of ten thousand rupees or both” (Sections 33 and 34).

Surrender (Section 35). A parent or guardian “who for physical, emotional and social factors beyond their control, wishes to surrender a child, shall produce the child before the Committee”. After inquiry and counselling a surrender deed is executed, and the parents get “two months time to reconsider their decision”.

Inquiry and orders (Sections 36 and 37). “The social investigation shall be completed within fifteen days so as to enable the Committee to pass final order within four months of first production of the child” (Section 36(2)). Its orders include restoration to the family, placement in a children’s home, Specialised Adoption Agency or with a fit person, foster care, sponsorship, and declaring the child legally free for adoption (Section 37).

Abandoned children (Section 38). After trying to trace the parents, the Committee declares an orphan or abandoned child legally free for adoption “within a period of two months from the date of production of the child, for children who are up to two years of age and within four months for children above two years of age”; a surrendered child is declared free after the two-month reconsideration period, and the decision needs at least three members. “No first information report shall be registered against any biological parent in the process of inquiry relating to an abandoned or surrendered child under this Act”, and abandonment by biological parents “due to circumstances beyond their control” is presumed not wilful for the cruelty offence in Section 75.

Reformation and rehabilitation: homes, foster care and aftercare (Sections 39 to 55)

Rehabilitation is “based on the individual care plan of the child, preferably through family based care such as by restoration to family or guardian with or without supervision or sponsorship, or adoption or foster care” (Section 39(1)).

• Observation home (Section 47): temporary care of a child in conflict with law “during the pendency of any inquiry”.
• Special home (Section 48): for children found to have committed an offence and placed there by the Board under Section 18.
• Place of safety (Sections 2(46) and 49): “not being a police lockup or jail”; for persons above 18 and children of 16 to 18 accused or convicted of heinous offences.
• Foster care and sponsorship (Sections 44 and 45): placement with another family, inspected monthly; “No child regarded as adoptable by the Committee shall be given for long-term foster care.”
• Aftercare (Sections 2(5) and 46): support for persons aged 18 to 21 leaving institutional care.

Every institution housing such children must be registered (Section 41(1)), for five years at a time; running one unregistered is punishable with “imprisonment which may extend to one year or a fine of not less than one lakh rupees or both” (Section 42). Institutions must provide food, shelter, medical care, education, skills, mental health support and legal aid (Section 53).

Adoption under the JJ Act (Sections 56 to 73)

“Adoption shall be resorted to for ensuring right to family for the orphan, abandoned and surrendered children” under the Act, its rules and CARA’s adoption regulations (Section 56(1)); relative adoption is available “irrespective of their religion” (Section 56(2)), but the Act does not apply to adoptions under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (Section 56(3)). “A single male is not eligible to adopt a girl child” (Section 57). Since 1 September 2022 the adoption order is passed by the District Magistrate, in camera, within two months of filing (Section 61(2)), with an appeal to the Divisional Commissioner within thirty days (Section 101(6)); the child becomes the adoptive parents’ child “for all purposes, including intestacy” (Section 63). See the firm’s guide to the adoption procedure in India.

Offences against children under the JJ Act (Sections 74 to 89)

Section 75 punishes cruelty: “Whoever, having the actual charge of, or control over, a child, assaults, abandons, abuses, exposes or wilfully neglects the child or causes or procures the child to be assaulted, abandoned, abused, exposed or neglected in a manner likely to cause such child unnecessary mental or physical suffering, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine of one lakh rupees or with both”. The other offences are summarised below.

Section	Offence	Punishment
74	Disclosing a child’s identity	Up to 6 months, or fine up to ₹2 lakh, or both
75	Cruelty by a person in charge of a child	Up to 3 years, or fine of ₹1 lakh, or both; by staff of a child care organisation, RI up to 5 years and fine up to ₹5 lakh; if the child is incapacitated or mentally harmed, RI of 3 to 10 years and fine of ₹5 lakh
76	Using a child for begging	Up to 5 years and fine of ₹1 lakh; RI of 7 to 10 years and fine of ₹5 lakh if the child is maimed
77 and 78	Giving a child liquor, drugs or tobacco products; using a child to sell or carry them	RI up to 7 years and fine up to ₹1 lakh
79	Exploiting a child employee	RI up to 5 years and fine of ₹1 lakh
80	Adoption outside the legal procedure	Up to 3 years, or fine of ₹1 lakh, or both
81	Selling or buying a child	RI up to 5 years and fine of ₹1 lakh; 3 to 7 years if by a person in charge of the child, including hospital staff
82	Corporal punishment in a child care institution	Fine of ₹10,000 on first conviction; up to 3 months, or fine, or both later
85	Any of these offences against a disabled child	Twice the penalty

The penal code’s kidnapping provisions (Sections 359 to 369 IPC; now, for example, Section 137 BNS) apply to every child under 18 (Section 84), and where an act is an offence under two laws the greater punishment applies (Section 88).

Section 86, as substituted in 2021: “(1) Where an offence under this Act is punishable with imprisonment for a term of more than seven years, then, such offence shall be cognizable and non-bailable. (2) Where an offence under this Act is punishable with imprisonment for a term of three years and above, but not more than seven years, then, such offence shall be non-cognizable and non-bailable. (3) Where an offence, under this Act is punishable with imprisonment for less than three years or with fine only, then, such offence shall be non-cognizable and bailable. (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) or the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005 (4 of 2006) or the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (32 of 2012), offences under this Act shall be triable by the Children’s Court.” On these words, the basic cruelty offence (up to three years) is non-cognizable and non-bailable, and its aggravated form (up to ten years) cognizable and non-bailable. Sexual offences against children fall under the POCSO Act, 2012.

The 2021 Amendment (Act 23 of 2021), in force from 1 September 2022

By notification S.O. 4127(E) of 31 August 2022, “the Central Government hereby appoints the 1st day of September, 2022 as the date on which the said Act shall come into force”. The main changes:

Subject	Change from 1 September 2022	Section
Serious offences	Also covers a maximum above 7 years with no minimum or a minimum below 7 years	2(54)
District Magistrate	Supervises the DCPU; receives the CWC’s reports; decides complaints against the CWC after hearing the parties; may call for information	2(26), 2(26-A), 16(4), 27(8), 27(10)
Adoption orders	By the District Magistrate instead of a court; appeal to the Divisional Commissioner	58 to 64, 101(6)
CWC members	Degree plus experience; new disqualifications	27(4), 27(4A)
Offences against children	3 to 7 years: non-cognizable and non-bailable; all triable by the Children’s Court	86
Appeals	Bar on appeals against a Committee finding that a child is not in need of care and protection removed (the bar on appeals against most acquittals by the Board was kept)	101(3)

The JJ Act and the new criminal laws

The Act still refers to the IPC and the CrPC, replaced from 1 July 2024 by the BNS and BNSS. Under Section 8(1) of the General Clauses Act, 1897, such references “shall, unless a different intention appears, be construed as references to the provision so re-enacted”, and in X v. State of Bihar the Supreme Court classified murder under “Section 302 of the IPC, now, Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023”. For offences committed, and proceedings pending, before 1 July 2024, the IPC and CrPC continue to apply (Section 531 BNSS). The firm’s IPC to BNS and CrPC to BNSS comparison tool gives the new numbers.

किशोर न्याय अधिनियम, 2015 – हिंदी में सारांश (Summary in Hindi)

अधिनियम का हिंदी नाम “किशोर न्याय (बालकों की देखरेख और संरक्षण) अधिनियम, 2015” है और यह 2016 का अधिनियम संख्यांक 2 है। यह 15 जनवरी 2016 से लागू है और इसने वर्ष 2000 के अधिनियम का स्थान लिया। 2021 का संशोधन अधिनियम (2021 का 23) 1 सितम्बर 2022 से लागू हुआ। यह सारांश फर्म द्वारा तैयार किया गया है; उद्धरण चिह्नों में दिए गए शब्द विधायी विभाग द्वारा प्रकाशित अधिनियम के हिंदी पाठ से हैं।

“बालक” वह व्यक्ति है जिसने अठारह वर्ष की आयु पूरी नहीं की है (धारा 2(12))। “विधि का उल्लंघन करने वाला बालक” वह है जिस पर अपराध करने का अभिकथन है या ऐसा पाया गया है और जिसने अपराध की तारीख को अठारह वर्ष पूरे नहीं किए थे। “देखरेख और संरक्षण की आवश्यकता वाला बालक” वह है जो, उदाहरण के लिए, बेघर है, भीख मांगता है, अनाथ, परित्यक्त या अभ्यर्पित है, गुमशुदा है, जिसका शोषण हुआ है या जिसके बाल विवाह का आसन्न जोखिम है (धारा 2(14))।

विधि का उल्लंघन करने वाले बालकों के मामले “किशोर न्याय बोर्ड” देखता है, जिसमें एक “प्रधान मजिस्ट्रेट” और दो सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता होते हैं, जिनमें कम से कम एक महिला होती है (धारा 4)। देखरेख और संरक्षण की आवश्यकता वाले बालकों के मामले “बाल कल्याण समिति” देखती है, जिसमें एक अध्यक्ष और चार सदस्य होते हैं (धारा 27)। जिला मजिस्ट्रेट समिति के कामकाज की तिमाही समीक्षा पहले से करता था; 2021 के संशोधन के बाद वह दत्तक ग्रहण के आदेश भी देता है और जिला बालक संरक्षण एकक उसके पर्यवेक्षण में काम करता है।

अपराध तीन प्रकार के हैं: “छोटे अपराध” (अंग्रेज़ी पाठ के अनुसार अधिकतम दंड तीन वर्ष तक), “घोर अपराध” (अंग्रेज़ी में “serious offences”) और “जघन्य अपराध” (न्यूनतम दंड सात वर्ष या अधिक)। सर्वोच्च न्यायालय ने 21 जुलाई 2026 के निर्णय में कहा कि हत्या जघन्य अपराध है।

पुलिस द्वारा पकड़े गए बालक को विशेष किशोर पुलिस एकक या बाल कल्याण पुलिस अधिकारी के प्रभार में रखा जाता है और चौबीस घंटे के भीतर बोर्ड के सामने पेश किया जाता है; उसे किसी भी दशा में पुलिस हवालात या जेल में नहीं रखा जा सकता (धारा 10)। अपराध जमानतीय हो या अजमानतीय, बालक को सामान्यतः जमानत पर छोड़ा जाएगा, और जमानत केवल धारा 12 में बताए गए कारणों से, लिखित कारण देकर, रोकी जा सकती है। जांच चार मास में पूरी होनी चाहिए, जिसे दो मास बढ़ाया जा सकता है (धारा 14)।

सोलह से अठारह वर्ष के बालक पर जघन्य अपराध का आरोप हो तो बोर्ड तीन मास में “प्रारंभिक निर्धारण” करता है – उसकी मानसिक और शारीरिक क्षमता, परिणाम समझने की योग्यता और परिस्थितियां (धारा 15)। यह विचारण नहीं है। बोर्ड मामला स्वयं निपटा सकता है या “बालक न्यायालय” को भेज सकता है, जो तय करता है कि वयस्क के रूप में विचारण आवश्यक है या नहीं (धारा 18(3) और 19)। किसी बालक को मृत्युदंड या छोड़े जाने की संभावना के बिना आजीवन कारावास नहीं दिया जा सकता (धारा 21)। बोर्ड के आदेशों में परामर्श, सामुदायिक सेवा, परिवीक्षा या तीन वर्ष तक “विशेष गृह” में रखना शामिल है (धारा 18)। जमानत न मिलने पर जांच के दौरान बालक को “संप्रेक्षण गृह” या सुरक्षित स्थान में रखा जाता है (धारा 12(3))।

माता-पिता अपने नियंत्रण से बाहर के कारणों से बालक का “अभ्यर्पण” समिति के सामने कर सकते हैं और उन्हें पुनर्विचार के लिए दो मास मिलते हैं (धारा 35)। अनाथ या परित्यक्त बालक को दो वर्ष तक की आयु में दो मास के भीतर और बड़े बालक को चार मास के भीतर दत्तक ग्रहण के लिए विधिक रूप से स्वतंत्र घोषित किया जाता है (धारा 38)। बालक के प्रति क्रूरता पर तीन वर्ष तक का कारावास या एक लाख रुपये जुर्माना या दोनों का दंड है (धारा 75)। धारा 86 के अनुसार सात वर्ष से अधिक दंड वाले अपराध संज्ञेय और अजमानतीय, तीन से सात वर्ष वाले असंज्ञेय और अजमानतीय, और तीन वर्ष से कम वाले असंज्ञेय और जमानतीय हैं।

ध्यान दें: देखा गया हिंदी पाठ 2021 के संशोधन से पहले का है और उसकी धारा 2(45) में “तीन मास” छपा है, जबकि अंग्रेज़ी पाठ में “three years” है; यह सारांश संशोधित अंग्रेज़ी पाठ के अनुसार है।

Frequently asked questions

Conclusion

A child in conflict with law goes before the Juvenile Justice Board within 24 hours, never to a lockup or jail, is normally bailed, and faces a time-bound inquiry ending in reformative orders; only a 16 to 18-year-old accused of a heinous offence can be tried as an adult, after a careful preliminary assessment. A child in need of care and protection goes before the Child Welfare Committee, whose aim is to give the child a family again.

Sources used for this post: the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (Act No. 2 of 2016), English text on India Code (file a2016-2.pdf, incorporating Act 23 of 2021 w.e.f. 1 September 2022; no “as on” date printed; checked as current on 23 October 2026) and India Code’s legislative note; notification S.O. 110(E) of 12 January 2016 (on India Code); notification S.O. 4127(E) of 31 August 2022 (Gazette No. 3951, 1 September 2022, https://egazette.gov.in/WriteReadData/2022/238520.pdf); the Hindi text of the Act (Legislative Department, H201602.pdf, and the copy on the High Court of Madhya Pradesh’s website; text as enacted, used for Hindi terms); the Juvenile Justice Acts of 1986 (Section 2) and 2000 (Sections 2 and 69) and the Model Rules, 2016 (G.S.R. 898), on India Code; the Constitution of India, Articles 15, 21A, 39, 45 and 47 (Legislative Department, 2026 edition); the BNS and BNSS, 2023 (India Code, as on 6 October 2025, and the firm’s Gazette-checked section data) and the General Clauses Act, 1897, Section 8; X v. State of Bihar & Anr., Supreme Court, Criminal Appeal No. 3299 of 2026, 2026 INSC 728, judgment of 21 July 2026 (J.B. Pardiwala and Ujjal Bhuyan JJ.), https://api.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2026/6698/6698_2026_5_1502_72301_Judgement_21-Jul-2026.pdf, including its quotation from Barun Chandra Thakur v. Bholu, (2023) 12 SCC 401 (judgment of 13 July 2022).