The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam Government to provide a status report by February 2025 on key child protection initiatives, including the Draft Child Protection Policy and Juvenile Justice Rules.
Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court has instructed the Assam Government to submit a progress report by February 25, 2025, regarding key child protection and juvenile justice reforms. This update is to include the status of the Draft Child Protection Policy, the issuance of related notifications, progress in filling vacant positions, and the ongoing social audit, along with a tentative timeline for its completion.
The court’s directive came from a division bench led by Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury, during the hearing of Public Interest Litigation (PIL/60/2019). The bench further stated that in the next hearing, it will review issues such as the infrastructure challenges faced by the Juvenile Justice Board and conditions in Children’s Homes across Assam.
During the proceedings, the Senior Government Advocate informed the court that the Draft Child Protection Policy and the Draft Assam State Juvenile Justice Rules, 2024, have already been uploaded to the Cabinet portal. These documents are currently being reviewed by various departments, including Judicial, School Education, and Finance. The policy is expected to be presented to the Cabinet in the next session.
The government also shared plans to address the backlog of cases before the Juvenile Justice Boards. To tackle this, additional sittings of certain boards will be arranged, and the court encouraged the government to submit recommendations for rescheduling sittings to facilitate the review of proposed changes.
The court highlighted that the completion of these reforms will require time, as the finalization of policies, rules, and appointments will take longer.
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