Report says over 50,000 'children in conflict with law' await justice amid high pendency in Juvenile Justice Boards
The juvenile justice system in India seems stuck in a legal hamster wheel where over 50,000 children await resolution, and justice moves slower than a snail on a sticky note. Despite the system's intended role as a swift protector and rehabilitator, many Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) are crippled by staffing shortages, incomplete benches, and backlogs that keep cases dragging on for years. It’s an ironic tragedy when the very entities designed to safeguard children's futures trap them instead in a maze of pending cases and systemic neglect.
This sobering report from the India Justice Report (IJR) offers a detailed view of these systemic challenges as of October 2023. It reveals that 55% of over 1 lakh cases before 362 JJBs across 18 states and two Union Territories remain unresolved, with pendency rates alarmingly high—peaking at 83% in Odisha and lowest at 35% in Karnataka. Structural gaps such as one in four JJBs functioning without a full bench, lack of legal aid clinics in 30% of boards, and under-inspected residential homes jeopardize the rehabilitation mandate of the Juvenile Justice Act. The findings underscore deep inequities and urgent needs for reform to reduce delays, improve infrastructure, and reinforce staff capacities to meaningfully deliver justice to children in conflict with the law.
