Ranchi, March 22: Jharkhand High Court today sent out several directives to ensure juvenile justice in the state. The directives have been sent to Juvenile Justice Board Chairman, home secretary, social welfare secretary and director general of police, by a division bench presided over by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir.

The directives came after the chief justice heard a public interest litigation filed by Balsakha, an NGO, working for rehabilitation of children. The petition was filed to direct the authorities to make appropriate arrangements for hearing juvenile cases. In its directive to Gurusharan Sharma, appointed as the chairman of the Juvenile Justice Board, the court has asked him to select the members of the board within two weeks, notify the district boards of it and ensure proper training of the magistrate, in handling juvenile cases. The social welfare secretary has been instructed to arrange for adequate remand, childcare and rehabilitation homes to bring back juvenile delinquents into the mainstream while the home secretary and director general of police, have been asked to constitute a special police force to deal with juvenile crime. The court has also directed the concerned authorities to keep it informed about further developments.

Dilip Jeruth, the advocate for Balsakha, said the directives would help ensure justice to juvenile criminals. Sanjay Kumar Mishra, a volunteer associated with ?Bachpan Bachao Andolan?, has also welcomed the decision.