Juveniles can’t hang for every rape: SC judge

Indore, July 22

Justice Madan B Lokur, chairman of the Supreme Court Juvenile Justice Committee, has said juvenile convicts cannot be handed down capital punishment in every case pertaining to heinous crimes such as rape and murder.

He said judgment in such cases had to be delivered on the basis of evidence.  “It is not that for every murder, for every rape, the only penalty is death penalty. I mean, we are not savages in this country,” he said. “Just because the person happens to be 17 years old or close to 18, commits a heinous crime — therefore he must get death penalty, it cannot be like that. You have to still work on  the basis of proof and come to some conclusion.” 

He was speaking on Saturday at the 4th Western Regional Consultation on Effective Implementation of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, held here. On POCSO courts, he said studies reveal that “perhaps” these courts were “not functioning as well as they should”. — PTI