In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court clarified that appeals against preliminary assessment orders issued by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) under Section 101(2) of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2015 should be filed before the ‘Children’s Court’ if available, instead of the Sessions Court.
The Bench, comprising Justices CT Ravikumar and Rajesh Bindal, interpreted the provisions of the JJ Act, 2015 and the Juvenile Justice Model Rules, 2016. They stated that when a Children’s Court is operational, appeals under Section 101(2) should be directed to the Children’s Court, even if a Sessions Court exists.
The judgment emphasized that the terms ‘Children’s Court’ and ‘Sessions Court’ should be considered interchangeable. If a Children’s Court is established, any appeal specified for the Sessions Court should be addressed to the Children’s Court. However, if no Children’s Court exists, then the Sessions Court would handle the matter.
Section 101(2) of the JJ Act allows appeals against Board orders after preliminary assessments under Section 15. Notably, this section does not explicitly mention the Children’s Court.
The court clarified that the definition of ‘Children’s Court’ in Section 2(20) of the Act includes courts established under the 2005 Act or Special Courts under the 2012 Act. In the absence of such courts, the Sessions Court has jurisdiction. This means that a Sessions Judge encompasses an Additional Sessions Judge as well.
