Your 15-year-old is picked up by the police over a fight, and the phone call terrifies you. Under Indian law that case does not go to a regular criminal court. It goes to the Juvenile Justice Board, and the whole process is built to protect the child, not punish an adult.
Quick answer: A person below 18 is a child. When a child is accused of a crime, the Juvenile Justice Board handles the case, not an ordinary court. The child must be produced before the Board within 24 hours (section 10), is usually released on bail (section 12), and the inquiry must finish in about 4 to 6 months (section 14). This is under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
Short on time? Read the section below on the fork for a heinous offence by a child who has completed 16. That is the only path that can end in an adult trial. Every other case stays with the Board.
A “child” is any person below 18 years of age (section 2(35) of the JJ Act, 2015). A child who is alleged to have committed an offence is called a “child in conflict with law” (section 2(13)).
The Juvenile Justice Board is the special panel that deals with these cases. It is not a normal criminal court. It sits like a bench, includes a magistrate and two social workers, and follows a child-friendly procedure. A child is never tried alongside adults.
The law sorts offences into three buckets, and the bucket decides the route:
| Type of offence | How the law defines it | How the Board handles it |
|---|---|---|
| Petty | Punishable with up to 3 years of imprisonment | Summary proceedings (section 14(5)) |
| Serious | Punishable with 3 to 7 years of imprisonment | Summons-case procedure (section 14(5)) |
| Heinous | Minimum punishment of 7 years or more (section 2(33)) | Depends on the child's age (see the fork below) |
When the police apprehend a child, they cannot put the child in a lockup or a jail. The child must be placed in the care of the Special Juvenile Police Unit or the Child Welfare Police Officer.
The child must be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board within 24 hours of being apprehended, not counting the time needed for the journey (section 10 of the JJ Act, 2015). If the Board is not sitting, the child can be produced before an individual member.
Note: the police must also inform the parent or guardian and the probation officer as soon as the child is apprehended.
For a child, bail is the default. When a child in conflict with law is produced before the Board, the child shall be released on bail, with or without surety, or placed under the supervision of a probation officer or a fit person (section 12 of the JJ Act, 2015). This applies even if the offence is serious, and it overrides the usual bail rules in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The Board can refuse bail only for narrow reasons. Bail may be denied if releasing the child would:
Even then, the child is not sent to jail. The child goes to an observation home, never a police lockup.
The Board holds an inquiry, not a full adult trial. The clock is strict.
What happens if the clock runs out? For a petty offence, if the inquiry is still not finished even after the extended period, the proceedings stand terminated. For a serious or heinous offence, the case does not simply end. A further extension can be granted by the Chief Judicial Magistrate or the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate.
The route inside the inquiry depends on the offence (section 14(5)):
This is the only path that can lead to a child being tried as an adult, and it applies in one narrow situation: a heinous offence allegedly committed by a child who has completed 16 years of age.
Here the Board first runs a preliminary assessment under section 15 of the JJ Act, 2015. The Board looks at the child's mental and physical capacity to commit the offence, the child's ability to understand the consequences, and the circumstances in which the offence was allegedly committed. It can take the help of psychologists, psycho-social workers or other experts.
Important: the Act itself says, in an Explanation to section 15, that this preliminary assessment is not a trial. It only assesses the child's capacity to commit the offence. The child or the State can challenge the Board's order in appeal under section 101(2).
If the Board decides the child should be tried as an adult, it transfers the case to the Children's Court (section 18(3) read with section 19). The Children's Court then decides for itself whether to:
So a 16-plus heinous case does not automatically mean an adult trial. Two authorities, the Board and then the Children's Court, must each apply their mind before that can happen.
If a child is tried and convicted as an adult, the child is not sent straight to an ordinary jail. The child is kept in a “place of safety” until the age of 21, and only then may be transferred to jail. An individual care plan and a yearly follow-up apply throughout.
If the Board finds that the child did commit the offence, it does not hand down an adult sentence. For petty and serious offences at any age, and for a heinous offence by a child below 16, the Board can pass any of these orders under section 18 of the JJ Act, 2015:
The Board can also add supportive conditions under section 18(2), such as attending school, joining a vocational or therapeutic centre, going through a de-addiction programme, or staying away from a particular place or person.
Two hard limits protect every child. No child in conflict with law can be sentenced to death, and no child can be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of release (section 21 of the JJ Act, 2015).
Suppose a 15-year-old boy in Nagpur is picked up after a scuffle that the police book as a serious offence. The Child Welfare Police Officer takes charge, and the boy is produced before the Juvenile Justice Board the next morning, within 24 hours (section 10). He is not sent to any lockup.
At that first hearing his parents apply for bail. Because bail is the rule for a child, and there is no sign he would fall in with criminals or come to harm, the Board releases him on a bond in his father's care (section 12). He goes home the same day.
Over the next few months the Board holds its inquiry. Since he is 15, even a heinous charge would stay with the Board, so there is no question of an adult trial. The inquiry wraps up within the 4-month window (section 14). The Board finds the matter proved but minor, and orders counselling, community service, and probation of good conduct for one year under his parents' care (section 18). His schooling continues, and there is no jail and no adult conviction on his record.
A child in conflict with law has the right to free legal aid. Ask the District Legal Services Authority for a lawyer at no cost.
You can also use the Right to Information Act, 2005 to get records that a public authority holds, such as the apprehension memo, the probation officer's report, or the observation home register. This is often the fastest way to see what the file actually says.
For a plain-English guide to your rights and how RTI works alongside a case, read The RTI Playbook.
Anyone below 18 years of age is a child (section 2(35) of the JJ Act, 2015). A child accused of an offence is called a child in conflict with law (section 2(13)). Age is counted on the date the offence was allegedly committed.
No. When the police apprehend a child, the child must be placed with the Special Juvenile Police Unit or the Child Welfare Police Officer and produced before the Juvenile Justice Board within 24 hours (section 10). A child is never held in a police lockup or an adult jail.
Usually yes. For a child, release on bail is the rule, with or without surety (section 12 of the JJ Act, 2015). The Board can refuse only if release would put the child among known criminals, expose the child to danger, or defeat the ends of justice. Even then, the child goes to an observation home, not jail.
The inquiry must finish within 4 months of the child's first production, extendable by up to 2 more months for written reasons (section 14). A preliminary assessment in a heinous case must be disposed of within 3 months (section 15).
Only in one situation: a heinous offence (minimum punishment 7 years or more) allegedly committed by a child who has completed 16 years. Even then, the Board must first run a preliminary assessment (section 15), and the Children's Court must separately decide to try the child as an adult (sections 18(3) and 19).
It is a check, not a trial. The Board assesses the child's mental and physical capacity to commit the offence, the ability to understand its consequences, and the circumstances, often with help from psychologists. The Act's own Explanation says this is only an assessment of capacity, not a trial. The order can be appealed under section 101(2).
No. A heinous offence needs a minimum punishment of 7 years or more (section 2(33)). In Shilpa Mittal v. State (NCT of Delhi), Supreme Court, 2020, the Court held that an offence with no minimum of 7 years is not heinous and is treated as a serious offence.
Not an adult sentence. The Board can order counselling, group counselling, community service, a fine, probation of good conduct for up to 3 years, or a special home for up to 3 years (section 18). No child can be sentenced to death or to life imprisonment without the possibility of release (section 21).
The child is not sent straight to an ordinary jail. The child is kept in a place of safety until the age of 21, and only then may be moved to jail (section 19). An individual care plan and a yearly follow-up apply throughout.
Yes. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 is a central law and applies across India. States frame rules for local details, but the Board procedure, timelines and age rules described here come from the central Act.