Chandigarh notifies amended Juvenile Justice rule: Now, DM can step in to streamline adoption cases

Another significant amendment in the Rules envisages immediate investigation by the police (Rule 55 A & 57 A) in cases where a child is being used for begging and labour even before registration of an FIR.

The UT administration Saturday notified the Chandigarh Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Amendment Rules, 2023 subsequent to the notification of Rules by the Central Government on September 1, 2022.

The provisions laid under the Amended Rules, 2022 have been fully adopted in Chandigarh, the administration added. A senior officer said that the recent amendment in the rules has simplified and strengthened the procedure of child adoption by vesting the powers of taking decisions with the District Magistrate, who is the Deputy Commissioner, for issuing of orders in cases of In-country/Inter-Country/Relative/Step Parent Adoption in order to ensure speedy disposal of such cases.

Previously, the adoption orders were passed by the only District Court as per Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Model Rules 2016.

Meanwhile, the amended rules also empowers the District Magistrate along with Additional Deputy Magistrate to monitor the functioning of agencies such as Child Welfare Committee, Juvenile Justice Board and Special Juvenile Police Unit. The said monitoring will ensure that all the agencies are adhering to the norms laid under the Act, subsequently, preventing any kind of violation of provisions of the Act.

Another significant amendment in the Rules envisages immediate investigation by the police (Rule 55 A & 57 A) in cases where a child is being used for begging and labour even before registration of an FIR.

In addition to the above mentioned amendments, any affected child or anyone connected with the child can file grievance arising out of the functioning of Child Welfare Committee before the District Magistrate.