I knew this would happen, I am not surprised. Now all the people below 18 years of age have been given a certificate to commit rape
Gangrape victim’s mother
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday dismissed a plea of DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal against the release of the juvenile offender in the December 16 gangrape case, saying “there has to be a clear legislative sanction” in this regard.
“If anything has to be done, it has to be done according to the law. We have to enforce the law,” a vacation bench comprising justices AK Goel and UU Lalit said while refusing to entertain the plea of Maliwal filed in her official capacity as Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chief.
Minutes after the SC struck down the plea, the mother of the gangrape victim broke down in tears.
“I knew this would happen, I am not surprised. All courts have given up. What’s there in having any hope? Now all the people below 18 years of age have been given a certificate to commit rape,” the victim’s mother was quoted as saying by agencies after the apex court announced its verdict.
The bench did not agree with the submission that the juvenile offender can be subjected to the reformation process for a further period of two years under the juvenile law.
The juvenile, who is now 20 years old and was known to be the most brutal of the attackers, was released Sunday and sent to an NGO.
The rejection of the plea by the SC meanwhile spurred political parties into seeking quick passage of a bill that seeks to lower the age defining juvenile from 18 to 16 years — by Tuesday itself.
Parliament has only three days to pass The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2014 before the winter session ends.
“It is incumbent upon the House to listen to what is going on outside,” he said, asking the House to rise above politics. “It is not a perfect bill but let us list it and pass the bill,” Trinamul Congress MP O’Brien said.
Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said “the government is ready and very keen to pass this juvenile Bill”.
“We are ready to bring supplementary agenda for this today itself,” he said outside Parliament.
Targeting Congress, he added that “the Bill has been thrice listed in the past for consideration and passage in Rajya Sabha; however, the House has not been able to run”.
SP leader Ramgopal Yadav blamed “politics” for the delay in the passage of the Bill. Agencies
