Legal provisions regarding pre and post-production action of police and other agencies under rule 11 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
Rule 11 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2007 provides that:
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ADVERTISEMENTS:
(1) As soon as juvenile alleged to be in conflict with law is apprehended by the police, the concerned police officer shall inform:
(a) The designated juvenile or the Child Welfare Officer in the nearest police station to take charge of the matter;
(b) The parents or guardian of the juvenile alleged to be in conflict with law about the apprehension of the juvenile, about the address of the Board where the juvenile will be produced and the date and time when the parents or guardian need to be present before the Board;
(c) The concerned probation officer, of such apprehension to enable him to obtain information regarding social background of the juvenile and other material circumstances likely to be of assistance to the Board for conducting the inquiry.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(2) Soon after apprehension the juvenile shall be placed under the charge of the Juvenile or Child Welfare Officer from the nearest police station who shall produce the juvenile before the Board within twenty-four hours as per sub-section (1) of Section 10 of the Act and where such Juvenile or the Child Welfare Officer has not been designated as per provisions laid down under sub-section (2) of Section 63 of the Act or is not available for some official reasons the police officer who had apprehended the juvenile shall produce him before the Board.
(3) The police apprehending a juvenile in conflict with law shall in no case send the juvenile in loci-up or delay his charge being transferred to the Juvenile or the Child Welfare Officer from the nearest police station, if such an officer has been designated.
(4) A list of all designated Juvenile or the Child Welfare Officers in a district and members of Special Juvenile Police unit with contact details shall be prominently displayed in every police station.
(5) For gathering the best available information it shall be incumbent upon the police or the Juvenile or the Child Welfare Officer from the nearest police station to contact the parents or guardians of the juvenile and also appraise them of the juvenile’s law breaking behaviour.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(6) The police or the Juvenile or the Child Welfare Officer from the nearest police station shall also record the social background of the juvenile and circumstances of apprehension and offence alleged to have been committed in the case diary of each juvenile, which shall be forwarded to the Board forthwith.
(7) The police or the juvenile or the Child Welfare Officer from the nearest police station, shall exercise the power of apprehending the juvenile only in cases of his alleged involvement in serious offences (entailing a punishment of more than 7 years imprisonment for adults).
(8) In such cases where apprehension apparently seems to be in the interest of the juvenile, the police or the Juvenile or the Child Welfare Officer from the nearest police station, shall rather treat the juvenile as a child in need of care and protection and produce him before the Board, clearly explaining the juvenile’s need for care and protection in its report and seek such appropriate orders from the Board under Rule 13(1) (b) of these rules.
(9) For all other cases involving offences of non-serious nature (entailing a punishment of less than 7 years imprisonment for adults) and cases where apprehension is not necessary in the interest of the juvenile, (the police or the Juvenile or the Child Welfare Officer from the nearest police station, shall intimate the parents or guardian of the juvenile about forwarding the information regarding nature of offence alleged to be committed by their child or ward along with his socio-economic background to the Board, which shall have the power to call the juvenile for subsequent hearing.
(10) In case the Board is not sitting, the juvenile in conflict with law shall be produced before the single member of the Board as per the provisions laid down under sub-section (2) of Section 5 of the Act.
(11) In dealing with cases of juveniles in conflict with law the police or the Juvenile or the Child Welfare Officer from the nearest police station shall not be required to register a FIR or file a charge-sheet, except where the offence alleged to have been committed by the juvenile is of a serious nature such as rape, murder or when such offence is alleged to have been committed jointly with adults; instead, in matters involving simple offences, the police or the Juvenile or the Child Welfare Officer from the nearest police station shall record information regarding the offence alleged to have been committed by the juvenile in the general daily diary followed by a report containing social background of the juvenile and circumstances of apprehension and the alleged offence and forward it to the Board before the first hearing.
(12) The State Government shall recognize only such voluntary organizations that are in a position to provide the services of probation, counseling, case work, a safe place and also associate with the police or the Juvenile or the Child Welfare Officer from the Special Juvenile Police Unit, and have the capacity facilities and expertise to do so as protection agencies that may assist the police or the Juvenile or the Child Welfare Officer from the police at the time of apprehension in preparation of the report containing social background of the juvenile and circumstances of apprehension and the alleged offence, in taking charge of the juvenile unit production before the Board, and in actual production of the juvenile before the Board within twenty-four hours.
(13) The Police or the Juvenile or the Child Welfare Officer from the Special Juvenile Police Unit, or the recognized voluntary organization shall be responsible for the safety and provision of food and basic amenities to the juvenile apprehended or kept under their charge during the period such juveniles are with them.
(14) When a juvenile is produced before an individual member of the Board, and an order obtained, such order shall need ratification by the Board in its next meeting.