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India Juvenile Records Explained
The crimes of young people, who serve jail terms for the same, are not being shown on their records.
This revelation came out in an interview with the Family and Juvenile Prosecution Chief Prosecutor Mohammed Rustom Bu Abdullah, as he discussed the increase in the number of reported juvenile and family criminal cases.
According to article 18 of the Federal Law No. 36 of 1992 on restitution of the eligibility, criminal cases against juveniles shall not be considered as a criminal record even if the juvenile was convicted and jailed.
“No record shall be kept against any youngster who faced an investigation or was even convicted and jailed. His file shall be kept in our system only for our own reference,” Bu Abdullah said.
This gives youngsters a second chance not afforded to adult criminals, who need specific documents or court rulings to become eligible for work and other privileges again after spending time in jail.
The flow of the cases to the Family and Juvenile Prosecution has kept a steady increase, with almost 50 more family criminal cases investigated in the past year to September, than the year before, while juvenile cases jumped more than 30 in the same period.
Bu Abdullah said as many as 342 family cases and 262 juvenile cases have been investigated by the Family and Juvenile Prosecution till September end this year, compared to 299 family cases and 229 juvenile cases for the same period of last year. In 2010, 265 family cases and 242 juvenile cases were handled by the same prosecution in the first three quarters. While cases of threat, assault and verbal abuse topped the family cases, theft and driving without licence topped the juvenile cases, Bu Abdullah said.
Driving without a license was most common amongst teenagers aged between 15 and 17, he said.
“Sometimes it happens with the parents, namely the father, unaware or (un)responsible for it. But if the father’s consent of his under-age son’s or daughter’s driving unlawfully is proven, he would also be held responsible and charged in the court of law for putting others’ lives at risk.”
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