Humayun Khan
PESHAWAR: The two-member bench of Peshawar High Court comprising of Justice Lal Jan Khattak and Justice Ijaz Anwar has directed Chief Secretary, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to submit report on the implementation of the Juvenile Justice System Act (JJSA), 2018, on Thursday.
The writ petition was filed in public interest by a citizen Imran Takkar who is a well-known child rights activities and author.
In the writ petition, among others, the Chief Secretary of the province, Secretary Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights, Secretary Home and Tribal Affair Department and Secretary Social Welfare were the respondents.
The counsel for petitioner Sharafat Ali Chaudhry Advocate emphasized that even after laps of the three years of enactment of Juvenile Justice System Act, 2018, the law is not fully enforced in its true letter and spirit. Who has also drafted the JJSA, argued that for structure required to implement that law is still.
The counsel informed that neither Juvenile Justice Committees were notified nor Juvenile Rehabilitation Centers and Observation Homes have been established.
Advocate Sharafat further argued that the arrested Juvenile is kept in police stations or investigation and in jails for confinement which is against the law and sheer violation of the fundamental rights of the juvenile accused persons.
The counsel for petitioner further argued that the provincial government has also failed to notify the rules under Juvenile Justice System Act, 2018.
The counsel argued that the implementation of the law, is a matter of public importance since it is directly linked with fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, which envisages that the people of Pakistan to be governed by the law.
The petitioner Imran Takkar a Child Rights Activist said that, the writ petition says that the Parliament was conscious of the fact that Juveniles in custody of police or imprisonment in jail often become subject to cruelty, abuse or torture.
Their rehabilitation remains in questions and when they come out of police lockup or jail, instead of becoming reformed citizens, while remaining in association with adult criminals, they often become habitual offenders. Hence, the Juvenile Justice System Act, 2018 was enacted for reformation, rehabilitation, and social re-integration of the juvenile accused.
The writ petition states that a child who was a grade 7 student, in police custody at West Cantonment Police Station, Peshawar. Police claimed that the child Shahzeb committed suicide in the lock-up. The dead body of the child in police custody begs answer whether the police was authorized to keep a juvenile accused in police lockup.
During last few years, there have been multiple reports of deaths while accused were in police custody. The bench after hearing the arguments for the petitioner’s counsel directed the respondents to submit report regarding the implementation of the JJSA.
