Juvenile justice classification upheld: serious offences do not take under-18 persons outside the protective statutory framework.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 was upheld as a beneficial law based on rehabilitation and India's juvenile justice commitments. The SC held that treating all persons below 18 as juveniles was a conscious legislative classification supported by reasonable classification under Article 14. It refused to read down the Act or hold it unconstitutional, finding the language clear and no omission for judicial correction. The Court also recognised that Board inquiry, protective procedure, and reformative disposition are materially distinct from ordinary criminal trial. Juveniles could not be excluded from the Act merely because the alleged offence was serious or heinous.

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Issues: Whether the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 required to be read down, or held unconstitutional, so as to permit juveniles alleged to have committed heinous offences to be tried in the regular criminal justice system on the basis of mental maturity or gravity of the offence.

Analysis: The Act was construed as a beneficial legislation enacted to give effect to India's international commitments under the juvenile justice framework. The Court held that the statutory classification of all persons below 18 years as juveniles was a conscious legislative choice, supported by the constitutional principle of reasonable classification and the object of rehabilitation. It rejected the plea for reading down, holding that the language of the Act was clear and unambiguous and that no legislative omission existed which could be supplied by judicial interpretation. The different treatment under the juvenile system, including inquiry by the Board, protective procedure, and reformative disposition, was found to be materially distinct from ordinary criminal trial, and the challenge based on Article 14 failed.

Conclusion: The Act was upheld in its existing form and was not to be read down. Juveniles below 18 years could not be taken out of the Act merely because the alleged offence was serious or heinous, and the petitioners' challenge failed.

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