The Juvenile Justice Monitoring Committee (JJMC) of the Patna High Court comprising Honorable Mr. Justice Ashwani Kumar. Singh (Chairperson), Honorable Mr. Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, and Honorable Mr. Justice Arwind Srivastav (Hon’ble Members), with the approval of Honorable the Chief Justice of Patna High Court and in collaboration of Bihar State State Legal Services Authority, has took an innovative step to minimize the pendency of cases pending before the Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) of Bihar.

Due to the situation arising out of COVID-19 pandemic, the disposal of cases by the Juvenile Justice Boards across the State was adversely affected, resulting in surge of the pendency of cases. To deal with this situation, the Patna High Court has arranged Special Sitting in all the 38 Juvenile Justice Boards of Bihar on August 14, 2021, which was otherwise a holiday following the COVID guidelines.

In the Special Sitting held today from 10.30 am to 4.30 pm., in a single day 1416 cases, including petty (620), serious (701), and heinous (95) nature cases, have been disposed of by the Juvenile Justice Boards in strict adherence with the spirit and objects of JJ Act, 2015 and Bihar JJ Rules, 2017, and released more than 40 children institutionalized in the child care institutions, particularly in observation homes.

The child in conflict with the laws and their parents have enthusiastically participated in this drive. The DLSA of the respective districts has deputed panel lawyers at the JJB to help the litigants and their family members during the Special Sitting.

The services of para-legal volunteers have also been taken to reach the CICL and their parents residing in remote areas. The other stakeholders of the Juvenile Justice System, such as Special Juvenile Police Units (SJPU), officers from the Social Welfare Department, District Child Protection Unit etc., have overwhelmingly supported this unique drive and co-operated the JJB.

This unique drive for disposal of pending cases for Child in Conflict with Law has been held perhaps, for the first time in India since the passing of the JJ Act 2015 and it will lead to a strong path for securing the spirits and objectives of the J.J. Act in true sense.

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