Revoke PSA of Shopian boy: Juvenile Justice Panel to Govt
Srinagar, March 02: Juvenile Justice Panel has asked Home Department to revoke detention order of a Shopian boy, who has been slapped with Public Safety Act (PSA) for some charges when he was a minor.
Chairperson Selection-Cum-Oversight Committee (SCOC), Justice Hasnain Masoodi, has written to Principal Secretary Home Department seeking his intervention in case of Ikhlak Ahmad Ganaie of Meemandar, Shopian citing a news report published in a local daily on February 19.
Taking cognizance of the news story by Rabia Noor, media fellow with National Foundation for India and a child rights activist, the communication points out that Ikhlak was a juvenile on the date of the occurrence, in connection with which he was detained, as per his school leaving certificate.
“The J&K Public Safety Act leaves scope for revocation of detention order by the government whenever detention is found to be forbidden under law and that the date of occurrence is relevant in all cases where benefit of juvenility is to be extended,” reads the letter.
Pointing to the practice of producing detained juveniles before Juvenile Justice Board a few days after they are apprehended and put in police lock-up, Justice Masoodi has sought issuance of a circular requiring all the Station House Officers to produce such juveniles before the Board immediately after apprehension.
