SC adjourns hearing of plea alleging illegal detention of children in J-K

The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned for November 5, the plea filed by child rights activist, Enakshi Ganguly, claiming "detention of children" in the Jammu and Kashmir, after the abrogation of Article 370 and subsequent shutdown in the valley.

A bench of the apex court, headed by Justice NV Ramana, adjourned the petition of Enakshi Ganguly to November 5.

Attorney General, KK Venugopal, the top law officer representing the Union of India, today sought more time to reply to the submissions made by the petitioner, Enakshi Ganguly.

The apex court allowed the submissions of Venugopal and granted him more time to file his submissions, and adjourned the matter.

Earlier this month, The Jammu and Kashmir Juvenile Justice Committee submitted a report to the Supreme Court claiming that "144 juveniles, including children aged nine and 11, were arrested since August 5 after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir".

After the curfew measures were imposed in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of revocation of Article 370, the committee's report said that juveniles were arrested but no child is under illegal detention in the Valley.

The report mentioned that some of the children were released on the same day of arrest, while the rest were proceeded as juveniles in conflict with law under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2013.

"The specific allegations made in the petition have not been corroborated from the information received from the field formations. The individual cases where it is alleged that in violation of law the juveniles have been picked up by the Police and lodged in Police lock-ups have been found not factually correct," DGP report stated, said the Committee.

It said the DGP has refuted the media reports saying such reports generated with the intention to "malign police" and to create the story which may have an element of "sensationalism" and "imagined from thin air".

The committee while quoting DGP's report, stated, "It happens often that when minors/juveniles indulge in stone-pelting, they are momentarily held up on the spot and sent home. Some of these incidents are exaggerated beyond proportion."

The report of the four-member committee, headed by Jammu and Kashmir High Court judge Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey, was submitted to the Supreme Court's bench of Justice NV Ramana, Justice R Subash Reddy and Justice BR Gavai, hearing matters relating to Jammu and Kashmir.

The Supreme Court on September 20 had asked the Juvenile Justice Committee of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court to look into and submit a report on the allegations of illegal detention of children in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of abrogation of Article 370, raised in a PIL before the apex court.

The PIL was filed before the apex court by Enakshi Ganguly, and Professor Shanta Sinha, the first Chairperson of the National Commission for Child Rights (NCPCR).

The petition filed in the apex court has claimed that the children in the Kashmir valley have been regularly detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA).

( With inputs from ANI )