Restoring hope for jailed children

On July 25, the Karnataka High Court, speaking through a bench comprising Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav and Justice Ramachandra D. Huddar, delivered a judgement groundbreaking in terms of its judicial strategy and moral gravity within the realm of child rights. It has the potential to fundamentally reshape the course of action to be adopted by Juvenile Justice Boards when it comes to children wrongly incarcerated as adults in prisons.

This landmark ruling addresses the egregious case of an individual who had to endure 13 years long imprisonment in an adult prison, only for the court to subsequently discover and confirm that he was a minor at the time of the alleged offence and could not have been sent to jail at all. This case highlights the critical need for meticulous age determination and consistent adherence to the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, and to the recently enacted Karnataka Juvenile Justice Rules 2025, which together lay down a comprehensive framework for the care, protection, development, and rehabilitation of children in conflict with the law.

This judgement becomes important in the context of the prevailing state of affairs regarding the treatment of young individuals within India’s criminal justice system. A report released last year by iProbono, titled ‘Children in Indian Prisons’, had revealed that despite the existence of clear legislation like the Juvenile Justice Act of 2015, minors continue to be unlawfully lodged in adult prisons across the country. Their report had found that at least 9,681 children were illegally incarcerated in adult prisons between January 2016 and December 2021. It was in 2015 that this problem was acknowledged by lawmakers and a provision was added in the Juvenile Justice Act empowering Juvenile Boards to inspect adult prisons to trace minors lodged there and to divert them to Juvenile Justice from Jails.

Minors are often treated as adults due to faulty age determination or the absence of an investigation into the age of the accused persons at the time of arrest. This systemic violation frustrates the Juvenile Justice strategy and leads to higher rates of recidivism instead of reform and rehabilitation.

The High Court’s landmark ruling emerged from an appeal in a murder case, uncovering a profound miscarriage of justice. The accused, who had been incarcerated since 2012, was discovered upon review to have been a minor at the time of the alleged offence – a critical detail overlooked during his original trial. This grave oversight meant he was unlawfully tried and imprisoned as an adult, directly contravening the Juvenile Justice Act, which mandates that minors be presented before a Juvenile Justice Board within 24 hours.

Recognising this fundamental violation, the court formally declared him a child in conflict with the law and, in a significant move, directed the Yadgir Juvenile Justice Board to order his compensation according to Rule 6 of the recently enacted 2025 Karnataka Juvenile Justice Rules.

A pathway to reform

This case shows a larger systemic malice prevalent in the criminal legal system across India. Children are often denied the protection of juvenile justice law. In many instances, their age is misreported or intentionally altered, leading to minors being prosecuted as adults. Without proper oversight, these children are sent to regular magistrate courts and from there, to the adult prisons. Karnataka, by framing its 2025 Rules, has become the first state in the country to provide a comprehensive framework to address this systemic issue.

Rule 6 mandates jail inspections by the JJBs, the framing of jail reference by the JJB to the concerned court for prompting a judicial inquiry into the age of the lodged individual, immediate transfer of wrongly held juveniles, legal accountability of the officials, and access to financial compensation for the affected children.

The July 25 judgement is more than just a corrective and compensatory verdict; it strongly affirms the need for institutional accountability and a child-sensitive justice system. It activates previously unused legal provisions and establishes a precedent for the active involvement of the Juvenile Justice Boards. This serves as a reminder that justice, even if delayed, can still be meaningful if the system is willing to correct its errors. The Karnataka High Court’s decision should now serve as a model for judicial and administrative reforms throughout India, aiming to ensure that no child’s future is lost in jails due to neglect, error, or oversight of those responsible for providing care and protection.

(Anant is a senior child rights and criminal justice lawyer practising at the
Delhi High Court; Sangappa teaches Social Work at Bengaluru City University)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.