New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday has asked the Central government to have a re-look at the provisions of the juvenile law that prescribes 18 years as the age of adulthood to try persons accused of heinous crime. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C. Pant told Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi to consider the suggestion and inform the Supreme Court in May the Centre’s stand on this issue.

In 2013 the apex court had dismissed a batch of writ petitions seeking a direction to the Centre to take steps to make changes in the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 to ensure that in offences like rape and murder, juveniles should be tried under the normal law and not under the JJ Act. Protection granted to persons up to the age of 18 years under the JJ Act should be removed, the petitions had sought.

The court had then made it clear that it was for Parliament to amend the law. The matter was referred to a parliamentary standing committee which rejected the proposal to reduce the age limit of juveniles to 16 to be tried under normal law.

On Monday, Justice Misra asked Attorney-General Rohatgi whether Parliament would have a re-look at these provisions. The appellant in this case argued that he was less than 18 years of age at the time of commission of offence and he could not have been tried in a regular court, but only by the JJ court.