Juvenile Delinquency: Overview, Prevention And Laws In India

Abstract

When an individual deviates from the course of usual social life, his behaviour is called "delinquency". When a juvenile, below an age specified under a statute exhibits behaviour which may prove to be hazardous to society and to him he may be called a 'Juvenile delinquent'. A number of India’s instruments echo a fondness for social rather than judicial approaches in scheming juvenile delinquency. The prevention of juvenile delinquency is a vital part of overall crime prevention in society. The Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 lays down that juvenile in clash with law may be kept in an observation home while children in need of care and protection need to be kept in a children home during the pendency of proceedings before the competent authority. India is perhaps the only country in the world which has the dubious distinction of having maximum number of laws to regulate the conduct of society. It is the only country where almost all aspects of human behaviour are sought to be governed by laws rather than through education or innate enlightenment which is the preserve of every egalitarian society.