Cuttack: Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Sunday underlined the need for "a rational approach" while dealing with children in conflict with law.
Giving a word of caution for magistrates becoming "too indulgent" while adjudicating cases of juveniles, the CJI said: "Please do not be swayed away by your individual emotions, but be guided by the regulations of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act."
The CJI was delivering the inaugural address at a state-level conference on issues and challenges in juvenile justice at the Odisha Judicial Academy here.
The conference was jointly organised by Orissa High Court Juvenile Justice Committee and the state department of women and child welfare.
Chief Justice Misra further underscored the need for meaningful rehabilitation of juveniles after they complete their sentence. The CJI expected the government to create some sort of employment opportunities to ensure that they return to the society's mainstream and do not commit crime again.
"It is vital for the authorities involved in the Juvenile Justice System to check that no juvenile is fostered for engagement in criminal activities," the CJI said.
The CJI also gave a word of caution for those who manage juvenile homes. "The manager should look after the children in conflict with law, but should not get involved with them. He should be compassionate, but not more compassionate so much so that the children try to eat him away. They should ensure some sort of discipline," the CJI said, adding, "care and protection does not nullify the concept of discipline".
Orissa High Court Juvenile Justice Committee chairperson Justice Sanju Panda said the key objectives of the conference were to enhance and strengthen the synchronisation and co-ordination among the stakeholders of juvenile justice system and to identify the bottlenecks of effective implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act.
Judicial officers of juvenile courts/boards and chairpersons child welfare committees from all the districts in State and other stakeholders of the juvenile justice system took part in the conference.