Background: what a Juvenile Justice Board is and where its powers come from

Background

The Gauhati High Court's direction on jails in Assam was addressed to the Juvenile Justice Board in each district. A Juvenile Justice Board is the district level body set up under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 to deal with a child who is in conflict with law. Among its listed functions is the power to visit jails and places where children may be kept, which the court traced to Section 8(3)(m) of that Act. The High Court used precisely that provision to ask the Boards to look for children inside adult jails and to keep doing so. The Act also provides the appropriate homes to which a child found in a jail has to be moved. Candidates should be able to separate the Board, which handles children in conflict with law, from the committee that handles children in need of care and protection. The Act of 2015 replaced the earlier juvenile justice law of 2000.