Delhi government's logic on juvenile flawed: Chief Justice AP Shah

NEW DELHI: Former Delhi HC Chief Justice AP Shah has said the Delhi government's decision to explore possibility of awarding death sentences to juvenile rapists was “unacceptable“.

Shah, ex-chief of the Law Commission, had last month submitted a report to the Modi government recommending abolition of capital punishment and retaining it for terror-related crimes. He told ET: “The Delhi government has suggested that juveniles in rape cases should be tried as adults and juveniles should be given capital punishment in rape cases. Being tried as adults brings focus on the amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act, and I believe that the move to reduce the age of a juvenile from 18 to 16 has been a hasty one. Even so, assuming that the age of juveniles is reduced to 16, to say that rape cases should invite the death penalty is based on flawed logic and ignores the international legal regime.“

“To begin with, India has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which explicitly prohibits the use of the death penalty against persons under the age of 18,“ Justice Shah said.