Need to respect Juvenile Justice Act, juveniles can be reformed: Justice Leila Seth

New Delhi: Member of the JS Verma committee Justice Leila Seth has come out strongly in favour of the existing juvenile justice laws. Speaking to CNN-IBN Deputy Editor Sagarika Ghose, Justice Seth said we must accept the age limit laid down by the law and the key is to focus on reform of the child. She said one can't keep lowering the age and changing law to suit a particular case.

This came a day after the Juvenile Justice Board ruled that the sixth accused in the Delhi gangrape-murder case is a juvenile and hence cannot be tried and sentenced under criminal law. The Board went with records of the school where the juvenile studied and then dropped out. The principals had produced school leaving records, which put his date of birth at June 04, 1995, making him 17 years and 6 months when the crime occurred.

The court had summoned both the then principal and the current principal of the school from which the juvenile dropped out in class 3. The then principal of the school told the media outside the courtroom that the date on the register was as per the statement of the mother of the minor.

Justice Leila Seth said one can\'t keep lowering the age and changing law to suit a particular case.

Under juvenile law, if the minor is found in conflict with the law, he can only be sent for reform for a maximum of three years in a correction centre under a probation officer. The five others accused are adults and are facing trial in a regular court. They have been accused of murder, which carries death as the maximum penalty.

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