Leh, 14 May: Juvenile Justice Committee, High Court of J&K & Ladakh in collaboration with the Social Welfare Department, UT Ladakh organized two days workshop of duty bearers (ICPS, Legal Service Authority, Police and other functionaries) on the implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, supported by UNICEF. The two days workshop was inaugurated (virtually) by the Chairperson, High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Justice Ali Mohammed Magrey.
In his inaugural address, Justice Ali Mohammed Magrey expressed his pleasure at the productive first session of the workshop held in Kargil. He reiterated that children cannot be treated as criminals and added that the Juvenile Justice Act is comprehensive legislation that addresses the basic needs of children.
Commissioner/ Secretary, Social and Tribal Welfare Dept, Ladakh, Padma Angmo stressed the need for training and capacity building of Counsellors as they play a crucial role in dealing with children in conflict with the law. Concluding her address, the Secretary urged to strive towards implementation of the rules in letter and spirit of the law and exhorted that no child should be deprived of their rights and go away without getting their dues.
The delegation/resource persons from UNICEF, Bharti Ali (Executive Director HAQ Center for Child Rights), Nimisha Shrivastava (Executive Director, Counsel to Secure Justice), Manna Biswas (Child Protection Officer) and Shruti Prasad (Consultant) gave an extensive walk-through on the Juvenile Justice Amendment Act 2021, Model Rules 2016, structures and functioning of Juvenile Justice Board and Child Welfare Committee. The resource persons also discussed the procedures to be adopted by police/NGOs/Child Protection Services in relation to children in conflict with the law, apprehension/mental health of child, substance abuse victims, bail, preliminary assessment into heinous offenses, and various other related aspects. They also stressed the importance of sensitizing society on dealing with such children with no judgment as children cannot comprehend crimes or misdemeanors like an adult.
On the occasion, Deputy Commissioner, Leh Srikant Balasaheb Suse welcomed and thanked all the officials, participants and resource persons for conducting the workshop and urged that the trainees should get the maximum benefit from the program.
SSP, Leh PD Nitya exhorted the major role police play in the implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act as they have to act both as the protector and investigator.
Day 1 of the workshop concluded with a question-and-answer session with the participants. The workshop was also attended by DLSA Secretary, Leh, Phunstog Angmo; Principal Magistrate JJB Leh, Chemat Yurgyal; Chairperson, Child Welfare Committee, Nima Stanzin and other concerned officials and stakeholders.
