Gauhati High Court orders Assam govt to draft Child Protection Policy, criticises delay

Guwahati, Sept. 16: The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government to promptly draft a Child Protection Policy and Rules to align with the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

Additionally, the Court has instructed the state government to inform all stakeholders that the Draft Central Model Rules, 2016 should be followed until the state-specific policies and rules are established.

This direction came during a hearing of a petition filed in 2019 by the charitable society Bachpan Bachao Andolan.

The bench, consisting of Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury, expressed displeasure at the government's delay in notifying the draft rules and child protection policy.

Government advocate D Nath informed the Court that the government would need about a month to finalise and notify the rules and policies.

Following Nath’s submission, the Court directed the government to instruct all stakeholders to adhere to the Draft Central Model Rules, 2016.

Moreover, the Court's Registry received a note from the Judicial Academy, Assam, detailing the challenges faced by the Juvenile Justice Boards. This note is expected to be addressed in the next Court hearing.

The Court had previously directed the state government to investigate the issues faced by the Juvenile Justice Boards. The 2019 petition by Bachpan Bachao Andolan had highlighted concerns related to the POCSO courts in the state.

The delay in notifying the State Child Protection Policy and Rules became apparent in September last year.

During deliberations, the Secretary of the Department of Women and Child Development had reported that the government had drafted the Juvenile Justice Rules and Child Protection Policy.

The Court noted that, given that the Juvenile Justice Act was enacted in 2015 and notified in 2016, the delay in drafting the rules and policies was unacceptable.