THE High Court on Wednesday scrapped the convictions and jail sentences handed down by the executive magistrate-run-mobile courts to juveniles across the country. The court observed that the process under which executive magistrates convicted and sentenced 121 children through mobile courts is inhuman and in violation of human rights. The court also declared actions of executive magistrate-run mobile courts convicting children and sentencing them to imprisonments for different tenures on criminal charges illegal and unconstitutional. It directed authorities concerned of the government to immediately release any children convicted and sentenced by mobile courts, if there are any in custody. The Mobile Court Act has some major issues. Firstly, Section 6(2) of the Act confers jurisdiction on the magistrates over a charter of offences to be endlessly expanded under rule making power of the government. Secondly, Section 6(4) gives a blank check in the executive’s desk to determine which offences would be “grievous in nature” to be tried by regular courts and which others are not.
In a flagrant disregard of Article 27 of the Constitution, the magistrates can just pick and choose at their whim as to whom to prosecute and whom to commit to the regular courts for trial. Likewise, sections 8 and 9 of the Act would permit the magistrates to inflict discriminatory sentences and execute them in a grossly unreasonable way. Executive Magistrates cannot convict and sentence children through mobile courts, whatever their offences are, under the Mobile Court Act, 2009.At best, Executive Magistrate-run mobile courts can forward the children if they are accused of any charge to the Shishu Adalat (Children’s Court) for trial under the Children Act 2013. By convicting and sentencing children, the mobile courts have acted as a parallel of the judiciary, which is an affront to the basic structure of the Constitution.
Executive magistrates who run mobile courts play the roles of prosecutor and judge simultaneously, which is contradictory to Articles 33 and 35 of the Constitution.
In a flagrant disregard of Article 27 of the Constitution, the magistrates can just pick and choose at their whim as to whom to prosecute and whom to commit to the regular courts for trial. Likewise, sections 8 and 9 of the Act would permit the magistrates to inflict discriminatory sentences and execute them in a grossly unreasonable way. Executive Magistrates cannot convict and sentence children through mobile courts, whatever their offences are, under the Mobile Court Act, 2009.At best, Executive Magistrate-run mobile courts can forward the children if they are accused of any charge to the Shishu Adalat (Children’s Court) for trial under the Children Act 2013. By convicting and sentencing children, the mobile courts have acted as a parallel of the judiciary, which is an affront to the basic structure of the Constitution.
Executive magistrates who run mobile courts play the roles of prosecutor and judge simultaneously, which is contradictory to Articles 33 and 35 of the Constitution.
