46. Attendance of parent or guardian of juvenile or child.- Any competent authority before which a
juvenile or the child is brought under any of the provisions of this Act, may, whenever it so thinks
fit, require any parent or guardian having the actual charge of or control over the juvenile or the
child to be present at any proceeding in respect of the juvenile or the child.
47. Dispensing with attendance of juvenile or child.- If, at any stage during the course of an
inquiry, a competent authority is satisfied that the attendance of the juvenile or the child is not
essential for the purpose of inquiry, the competent authority may dispense with his attendance
and proceed with the inquiry in the absence of the juvenile or the child.
48. Committal to approved place of juvenile or child suffering from dangerous diseases and his
future disposal.-(1) When a juvenile or the child who has been brought before a competent
authority under this Act, is found to be suffering from a disease requiring prolonged medical
treatment or physical or mental complaint that will respond to treatment, the competent authority
may send the juvenile or the child to any place recognised to be an approved place in accordance
with the rules made under this Act for such period as it may think necessary for the required
treatment.
(2) Where a juvenile or the child is found to be suffering from leprosy, sexually transmitted
disease, Hepatitis B, open cases of Tuberculosis and such other diseases or is of unsound mind,
he shall be dealt with separately through various specialised referral services or under the
relevant laws as such.
49. Presumption and determination of age.- (1) Where it appears to a competent authority that
person brought before it under any of the provisions of this Act (otherwise than for the purpose of
giving evidence) is a juvenile or the child, the competent authority shall make due inquiry so as to
the age of that person and for that purpose shall take such evidence as may be necessary (but
not an affidavit) and shall record a finding whether the person is a juvenile or the child or not,
stating his age as nearly as may be.
(2) No order of a competent authority shall be deemed to have become invalid merely by any
subsequent proof that the person in respect of whom the order has been made is not a juvenile or
the child, and the age recorded by the competent authority to be the age of person so brought
before it, shall for the purpose of this Act, be deemed to be the true age of that person.
50. Sending a juvenile or child outside jurisdiction.- In the case of a juvenile or the child, whose
ordinary place of residence lies outside the jurisdiction of the competent authority before which he
is brought, the competent authority may, if satisfied after due inquiry that it is expedient so to do,
send the juvenile or the child back to a relative or other person who is fit and willing to receive him
at his ordinary place of residence and exercise proper care and control over him, notwithstanding
that such place of residence is outside the jurisdiction of the competent authority; and the
competent authority exercising jurisdiction over the place to which the juvenile or the child is sent
shall in respect of any matter arising subsequently have the same powers in relation to the
juvenile or the child as if the original order had been passed by itself.
51. Reports to be treated as confidential.- The report of the probation officer or social worker
considered by the competent authority shall be treated as confidential:
Provided that the competent authority may, if it so thinks fit, communicate the substance thereof
to the juvenile or the child or his parent or guardian and may give such juvenile or the child,
parent or guardian an opportunity of producing such evidence as may be relevant to the matter
stated in the report.
52. Appeals.- (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, any person aggrieved by an order
made by a competent authority under this Act may, within thirty days from the date of such order,
prefer an appeal to the Court of Session:
Provided that the Court of Session may entertain the appeal after the expiry of the said period of
thirty days if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the
appeal in time.
(2) No appeal shall lie from-
(a) any order of acquittal made by the Board in respect of a juvenile alleged to have committed an
offence; or
(b) any order made by a Committee in respect of a finding that a person is not a neglected
juvenile.
(3) No second appeal shall lie from any order of the Court of Session passed in appeal under this
section.
53. Revision.-The High Court may, at any time, either of its own motion or on an application
received in this behalf, call for the record of any proceeding in which any competent authority or
Court of Session has passed an order for the purpose of satisfying itself as to the legality or
propriety of any such order and may pass such order in relation thereto as it thinks fit:
Provided that the High Court shall not pass an order under this section prejudicial to any person
without giving him a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
54. Procedure in inquiries, appeals and revision proceedings.- (1) Save as otherwise expressly
provided by this Act, a competent authority while holding any inquiry under any of the provisions
of this Act, shall follow such procedure as may be prescribed and subject thereto, shall follow, as
far as may be, the procedure laid down in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 ( 2 of 1974) for
trials in summons cases.
(2) Save as otherwise expressly provided by or under this Act, the procedure to be followed in
hearing appeals or revision proceedings under this Act shall be, as far as practicable, in
accordance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 ( 2 of 1974).
55. Power to amend orders.- (1) Without prejudice to the provisions for appeal and revision under
this Act, any competent authority may, on an application received in this behalf, amend any order
as to the institution to which a juvenile or the child is to be sent or as to the person under whose
care or supervision a juvenile or the child is to be placed under this Act:
Provided that there shall be at least two members and the parties or its defence present during
the course of hearing for passing an amendment in relation to any of its order.
(2) Clerical mistakes in orders passed by a competent authority or errors arising therein from any
accidental slip or omission may, at any time, be corrected by the competent authority either on its
own motion or on an application received in this behalf.
56. Power of competent authority to discharge and transfer juvenile or child.- The competent
authority or the local authority may, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, at any time,
order a child in need of care and protection or a juvenile in conflict with law to be discharged or
transferred from one children's home or special home to another, as the case may be, keeping in
view the best interest of the child or the juvenile, and his natural place of stay, either absolutely or
on such conditions as it may think fit to impose:
Provided that the total period of stay of the juvenile or the child in a children's home or a special
home or a fit institution or under a fit person shall not be increased by such transfer.
57. Transfer between children's homes, under the Act, and juvenile homes, of like nature in
different parts of India.- The State Government or the local authority may direct any child or the
juvenile to be transferred from any children's home or special home outside the State to any other
children's home, special home or institution of a like nature with the prior intimation to the local
Committee or the Board, as the case may be, and such order shall be deemed to be operative for
the competent authority of the area to which the child or the juvenile is sent.
58. Transfer of juvenile or child of unsound mind or suffering from leprosy or addicted to drugs.-
Where it appears to the competent authority that any juvenile or the child kept in a special home
or a children's home or shelter home or in an institution in pursuance of this Act, is suffering from
leprosy or is of unsound mind or is addicted to any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance, the
competent authority may order his removal to a leper asylum or mental hospital or treatment
centre for drug addicts or to a place of safety for being kept there for such period not exceeding
the period for which he is required to be kept under the order of the competent authority or for
such further period as may be certified by the medical officer necessary for the proper treatment
of the juvenile or the child.
59. Release and absence of juvenile or child on placement.- (1) When a juvenile or the child is
kept in a children's home or special home and on a report of a probation officer or social worker
or of Government or a voluntary organisation, as the case may be, the competent authority may
consider, the release of such juvenile or the child permitting him to live with his parent or guardian
or under the supervision of any authorised person named in the order, willing to receive and take
charge of the juvenile or the child to educate and train him for some useful trade or calling or to
look after him for rehabilitation.
(2) The competent authority may also permit leave of absence to any juvenile or the child, to
allow him, on special occasions like examination, marriage of relatives, death of kith and kin or
the accident or serious illness of parent or any emergency of like nature, to go on leave under
supervision, for maximum seven days, excluding the time taken in journey.
(3) Where a permission has been revoked or forfeited and the juvenile or the child refuses or fails
to return to the home concerned or juvenile to which he was directed so to return, the Board may,
if necessary, cause him to be taken charge of and to be taken back to the concerned home.
(4) The time during which a juvenile or the child is absent from a concerned home in pursuance of
such permission granted under this section shall be deemed to be part of the time foe which he is
liable to be kept in the special home :
Provided that when a juvenile has failed to return to the special home on the permission being
revoked or forfeited, the time which lapses after his failure so to return shall be excluded in
computing the time during which he is liable to be kept in the institution.
60. Contribution by parents.- (1) The competent authority which makes an order for sending a
juvenile or the child to a children's home or to a special home or placing the juvenile under the
care of a fit person or fit institution may make an order requiring the parent or other person liable
to maintain the juvenile or the child to contribute to his maintenance, if able to do so, in the
prescribed manner according to income.
(2) The competent authority may direct, if necessary, the payment to be made to poor parent or
guardian by the Superintendent or the Project Manager of the home to pay such expenses for the
journey of the inmate or parent or guardian or both, from the home to his ordinary place of
residence at the time of sending the juvenile as may be prescribed.
61. Fund.- (1) The State Government or local authority may create a Fund under such name as it
thinks fit for the welfare and rehabilitation of the juvenile or the child dealt with under this Act.
(2) There shall be credited to the Fund such voluntary donations, contributions or subscriptions as
may be made by any individual or organisation.
(3) The Fund created under sub-section (1) shall be administered by the State advisory board in
such manner and for such purposes as may be prescribed.
62. Central, State, district and city advisory boards.- (1) The Central Government or a State
Government may constitute a Central or State Advisory board, as the case may be, to advise that
Government on matter relating to the establishment and maintenance of the homes, mobilisation
of resources, provision of facilities for education, training and rehabilitation of child in need of care
and protection and juvenile in conflict with law and co-ordination among the various official and
non-official agencies concerned.
(2) The Central or State advisory board shall consist of such persons as the Central Government
or the State Government, as the case may be, may think fit and shall include eminent social
workers, representatives of voluntary organisations in the field of the child welfare corporate
sector, academicians, medical professionals and the concerned Department of the State
Government.
(3) The district or city level inspection committee constituted under section 35 of this Act shall
also function as the district or city advisory board.
63. Special juvenile police unit.- (1) In order to enable the police officers who frequently or
exclusively deal with juveniles or are primarily engaged in the prevention of juvenile crime or
handling of the juveniles or children under this Act to perform their functions more effectively, they
shall be specially instructed and trained.
(2) In every police station at least one officer with aptitude and appropriate training and
orientation may be designated as the 'juvenile or the child welfare officer' who will handle the
juvenile or the child in co-ordination with the police.
(3) Special juvenile police unit, of which all police officers designated as above, to handle
juveniles or children will be members, may be created in every district and city to co-ordinate and
to upgrade the police treatment of the juveniles and the children.
64. Juvenile in conflict with law undergoing sentence at commencement of this Act.- In any area
in which this Act is brought into force, the State Government or the local authority may direct that
a juvenile in conflict with law who is undergoing any sentence of imprisonment at the
commencement of this Act, shall, in lieu of undergoing such sentence, be sent to a special home
or kept in fit institution in such manner as the State Government or the local authority thinks fit for
the remainder of the period of the sentence; and the provisions of this Act shall apply to the
juvenile as if he had been ordered by the Board to be sent to such special home or institution or,
as the case may be, ordered to be kept under protective care under sub-section (2) of section 16
of this Act.
65. Procedure in respect of bonds.- Provisions of Chapter XXXIII of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) shall, as far as nay be, apply to bonds taken under this Act.
66. Delegation of powers.- The State Government may, by the general order, direct that any
power exercisable by it under this Act shall, in such circumstances and under such conditions, if
any, as may be prescribed in the order, be exercisable also by an officer subordinate to that
Government or the local authority.
67. Protection of action taken in good faith.- No suit or legal proceedings shall lie against the
State Government or voluntary organisation running the home or any officer and the staff
appointed in pursuance of this Act in respect of anything which is in good faith done or intended
to be done in pursuance of this Act or of any rules or order made thereunder.
68. Power to make rules.- (1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,
make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing powers, such rules may
provide for all or any of the following matters, namely :-
i. the term of office of the members of the Board, and the manner in which such member may
resign under sub-section (4) of section (4);
ii. the time of the meetings of the Board and the rules of procedure in regard to the transaction of
business at its meeting under sub-section (1) of section 5;
iii. the management of observation homes including the standards and various types of services
to be provided by them and the circumstances in which and the manner in which, the certification
of the observation home may be granted or withdrawn and such other matters as are referred to
in section 8;
iv. the management of special home including the standards and various types of services to be
provided by them and the circumstances in which and the manner in which, the certification of the
special home may be granted or withdrawn and such other matters as are referred to in section 9;
v. persons by whom any juvenile in conflict with law may be produced before the Board and the
manner of sending such juvenile to an observation home under sub-section (2) of section 10;
vi. matters relating to removal of disqualifications attaching to conviction of a juvenile under
section 19;
vii. the qualifications of the Chairperson and members, and the tenure for which they may be
appointed under sub-section (3) of section 29;
viii. the time of the meetings of the Committee and the rules of procedure in regard to the
transaction of business at its meeting under sub-section (1) of section 30;
ix. the manner of making the report to the police and to the Committee and the manner of sending
and entrusting the child to children's home pending the inquiry under sub-section (2) of section
32;
x. the management of children's homes including the standards and nature of services to be
provided by them, and the manner in which certification of a children's home or recognition to a
voluntary organisation may be granted or withdrawn under sub-section (2) of section 34;
xi. appointment of inspection committees for children's homes, their tenure and purposes for
which inspection committees may be appointed and such other matters as are referred to in
section 35;
xii. facilities to be provided by the shelter homes under sub-section (3) of section 37;
xiii. for carrying out the scheme of foster care programme of children under sub-section (3) of
section 42;
xiv. for carrying out various schemes of sponsorship of children under sub-section (2) of section
43;
xv. matters relating to after-care organisation under section 44;
xvi. for ensuring effective linkages between various agencies for facilitating rehabilitation and
social integration of the child under section 45;
xvii. the purposes and the manner in which the Fund shall be administered under sub-section (3)
of section 61;
xviii. any other matter which is required to be or may be, prescribed.
(3) Every rule made by a State Government under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after
it is made, before the Legislature of that State.
69. Repeal and savings.- (1) The Juvenile Justice Act, 1986 ( 53 of 1986) is hereby repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the said Act shall be
deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act.
70. Power to remove difficulties.- (1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this
Act, the Central Government may, by order, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act,
remove the difficulty :
Provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of the period of two years from the
commencement of this Act.
(2) However, order made under the section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made,
before each House of Parliament.