The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday cleared the Juvenile Justice (Amendment)
Bill, 2015, lowering the age of a legally defined juvenile from 18 to 16
in the case of heinous crimes. Despite the fact that many parties,
including the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP) and, till last week, the Congress favoured sending
it to a select committee for consideration, neither Shantaram Naik of
the Congress nor Derek O’Brien of the Trinamool Congress moved a motion
as had been decided by their parties earlier. The CPI(M) walked out once
voting started. The presence of Nirbhaya’s parents in the visitors’
gallery and their protest in the last week or so seemed to have had an
effect.
In fact, many of the speeches during the discussion had an impassioned tone.
Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi said: “We may not
be able to do anything about the juvenile convict in the Nirbhaya case
but we can deter many other boys from doing so.” “I do not want to tell
you what to do, but please remember India is watching us and decide if
you want to bring in a nuanced Bill which protects children,” she said,
asking the House to clear it.
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