Government may insert caveat in Juvenile Justice Act for rarest of rare case: Sources

New Delhi: In what may provide a whole new twist to the juvenile debate, sources say that the government is likely to seek legal opinion on lowering the juvenile age. The government may change the Juvenile Justice Act, making exception for rarest of rare cases.

Sources say the Cabinet will discuss the issue soon.

However, the change cannot be retrospective, so it will not affect the Delhi gangrape trial.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has also sought legal opinion on the ruling of the Juvenile Justice Board that the sixth accused in the Delhi gangrape case was a minor. A decision on whether to go in for an appeal is expected to be taken soon.

A day after the Juvenile Justice Board gave its ruling that could enable the sixth accused to walk free by June 4 in 2013 when he attains the age of 18 years, Delhi Police has sought the advice of the legal experts in this case on whether an appeal could be filed in the Delhi High Court. Highly-placed sources in the Delhi Police said a decision on whether to challenge the ruling is expected soon.

The sources said that there were other tests which could help in determining the age of the accused. The accused, who was described as the most brutal of the six accused in the police chargesheet, was declared 17 years and six months and 24 days-old (as of Tuesday) by the Juvenile Justice Board, which relied on his birth certificate and school documents produced before it.

With additional information from PTI