50,000 children still await justice as juvenile boards battle 55% case backlog: Report
New Delhi (PTI): More than 50,000 children in conflict with the law remain stuck in a slow-moving justice system where over half the cases are pending at 362 Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs), according to a new India Justice Report (IJR) study released on Thursday.
Despite ten years of the Juvenile Justice Act coming into force, glaring gaps, ranging from missing judges, under-inspected homes, absent data systems and wide state-level disparities continue to afflict justice delivery, the study said.
The report, Juvenile Justice and Children in Conflict with the Law: A Study of Capacity at the Frontlines, shows that as of October 31, 2023, 55 per cent of 100,904 cases before JJBs were pending, with pendency ranging from 83 per cent in Odisha to 35 per cent in Karnataka.
Though 92 per cent of India's 765 districts have constituted JJBs, one in four boards operates without a full bench. On average, each JJB carried a backlog of 154 cases.
The findings come against the backdrop of 40,036 juveniles being apprehended in 31,365 cases under the IPC and special laws in 2023, with three-fourths of them aged between 16 and 18, according to Crime in India data.
Yet, a decade after decentralising juvenile justice architecture, the study says systemic limitations continue to block timely support and rehabilitation.
The report highlights that 30 per cent of JJBs do not have an attached legal services clinic. Fourteen states and Jammu and Kashmir lack places of safety, vital for housing children above 18.
Oversight of Child Care Institutions (CCIs) is also falling short – across 166 homes in these states, only 810 of the mandated 1,992 inspections were carried out.
Data from 292 districts further show there are just 40 child care homes exclusively for girls.
The study flagged the near absence of publicly available national-level data on juvenile justice.
With no equivalent of the National Judicial Data Grid for JJBs, the IJR team had to file more than 250 RTI applications. The response pattern itself pointed to weak transparency — of over 500 replies received from 28 states and two Union Territories, 11 per cent were rejected, 24 per cent received no response, 29 per cent were merely transferred, and only 36 per cent provided usable information.
Calling the findings a warning sign, Maja Daruwala, chief editor of the India Justice Report, said the juvenile justice system relies on a regular flow of information from authorities.
But the attempt to gather basic data showed that "authorised oversight bodies neither receive it routinely nor insist on it. Scattered and irregular data makes supervision episodic and accountability hollow," she said.
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Man thrown 50 ft into air as powerful storm lashes UP's Bareilly
Bareilly (PTI): In a shocking incident, a man was flung nearly 50 ft into the air along with a tin roof and thrown into a field during a powerful storm in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district, where the adverse weather claimed at least four lives.
The man in the video, Nanhe Mian of Bamiyana village, suffered multiple injuries in the incident that occurred on Wednesday.
In a video of the incident doing the rounds on social media, the man is seen being launched into the air while he is holding onto the tin roof. He then lets go, does a somersault in the air and lands in the adjacent field.
Initially, some social media users expressed disbelief over the video and suspected that it was generated using artificial intelligence. But for Nanhe, an e-rickshaw driver, it is all too real.
Nanhe, around 50 years old, said on Thursday that he had gone to a wedding hall to collect some items when the storm intensified.
"The wind was so strong that the tin shed started making loud noises. I thought if I did not hold onto it, it would be blown away in the storm. So, I immediately grabbed a rope tied to the shed," he said.
"Then a very strong gust came and lifted both the shed and me into the air. I was carried nearly 50 ft into the air before the storm weakened and I fell to the ground," he said.
Nanhe, who lives with his wife and their five children, said he suffered injuries on his head, back, arms and legs. These include a fractured arm and leg.
Bareilly Police said in a statement that Nahne was standing inside the wedding hall in Bamiyana when strong winds and rain tore the tin roof of the structure.
According to the Uttar Pradesh government, at least 89 people were killed and around 50 injured in storm and rain-related incidents across the state on Wednesday.
Several animals were also killed and houses and shops were damaged in many places.
In Bareilly, four people were killed between 8.30 am and 11.30 pm on Wednesday, nine animals perished and around 30 houses suffered heavy damage, officials said.
Meet Nanhe Miyan of Bareilly, UP.
— Treeni (@treeni) May 13, 2026
During a severe storm at a wedding venue, he was lifted into the air along with a tin shed he was holding onto.
He flew high before crashing to the ground, breaking both arms and legs. Now hospitalised.pic.twitter.com/D616Z5X23L
