The Uttar Pradesh government will pay ₹5 lakh compensation to a man wrongfully held in a regular jail with adult prisoners despite being a juvenile at the time of the offence.
The Supreme Court came down heavily on the unlawful incarceration, underscoring that it strikes at the heart of child protection laws and constitutional guarantees.
A bench of justices JK Maheshwari and AS Chandurkar emphasized that housing a juvenile with adult inmates is impermissible under law and reflects a systemic failure in safeguarding the rights of children in conflict with law.
The court took on record a standard operating procedure (SOP) to prevent recurrence of such violations across the state, directing that it be circulated to all other states too for considering compliance.
The accused, a juvenile on the date of the incident, was confined in Agra Central Jail alongside adult prisoners, in violation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
The court clarified that this does not dilute the statutory safeguards applicable during the period of juvenility and emphasized the need for robust mechanisms to prevent such instances in the future.
