Rajya Sabha Votes and Passes Juvenile Justice Bill

The Juvenile Justice Bill was tabled in Parliament today. Follow for live updates on the discussion.

PJ Kurien, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, puts the Juvenile Justice Act and its amendments to vote.

The House passes Juvenile Justice Bill, three years after the December 16 gangrape-murder incident took place. According to the new Bill,

• The age of juveniles is officially lowered to 16 from 18 years.
  
• For heinous crimes, minimum punishment will be 3-7 years in prison.
  
• For petty offences, minimum punishment will be three years in prison.
  

Sitaram Yechury interrupts before the voting takes place and makes a few points. Appealing the House to act not on emotion, asks the members to consider these points and refer the matter to a select committee.

• We were all part of the protest when the 16 December incident took place.
  
• We are learning that people who are being radicalised to join ISIS start at the age of 14. Is terrorism not a heinous crime?
  
• We will not punish the youngest convict in the 16 December incident because the law is not retrospective. So what about him now?
  

Sitaram Yechury refuses to be part of the voting, walks out of the House.

Maneka Gandhi concludes her speech with the comment,

I do not want to tell you what you should do. Just remember that India is watching us and decide if you want to bring-in a nuanced Bill which protects children. 

Maneka Gandhi says, “We cannot answer the question if a 16-year-old is mature enough to commit a heinous crime, based on studies. If we do that we take away the nurture part in the nature vs nurture equation”.

Maneka clarifies that psychologists and experts will be included in the Juvenile Justice Board.

Responding to Anand Sharma’s comment, Maneka says, “heinous crimes have been defined. They are murder, rape , acid attack and kidnapping for ransom”.

Maneka Gandhi, Minister for Women and Child Development, replies to the debate on Juvenile Justice Act in the Rajya Sabha.

Maneka says, “I am glad most of you have read the Act and have suggestions and questions”.

Maneka begins answering individual MPs over their concerns about pointers in the Acts.