Fill Vacancies In Child Welfare Committees & Juvenile Justice Boards By April 15: High Court To Delhi Govt

The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi Government to complete the formalities of the selection process for filling vacancies in all the Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) and Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) in the national capital by April 15.

A division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain said that if the formalities are not completed before the said date, the Delhi Government's Chief Secretary shall appear before it on April 25 to explain why the order is not complied with.

The bench was hearing a suo motu public interest litigation initiated in 2018 after a ruling of the Supreme Court concerning the deficiencies in the implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.

The order was passed in a fresh application moved by Bachpan Bachao Andolan seeking direction upon the Delhi Government to expeditiously fill the vacant positions of Chairpersons and Members in the CWCs in Delhi, within a fixed time.

The court was informed that most of the CWCs in the national capital are not operating with their complete quorum and that the position of JJBs is also the same as that of CWCs.

Furthermore, it was submitted that as per a circular published in November last year by the Delhi government's Women and Child Development department, the position of Chairpersons and most of the members in 6 out of 11 CWCs became vacant as of December 31, 2023, due to completion of the three-year tenure.

It was further contended that the 6 CWCs were being operated with the officio of acting Chairpersons and had 16 vacant positions of members.

The counsel appearing for the Delhi Government submitted that the applications were pending before the concerned Department for scrutinization and will take some time.

“In view of the above, we, hereby, direct the Govt. of NCT of Delhi to complete all the formalities of selection process in CWCs and JJBs on or before 31.03.2024, failing which, the Chief Secretary, GNCT of Delhi shall appear before Court on the next date of hearing to explain as to why the order passed by this Court has not been complied with,” the court said.

As the Delhi Government's counsel sought a further 15 days to ensure compliance with the order, the court ordered:

“Accordingly, Govt. of NCT of Delhi is directed to complete all the formalities of the selection process in CWCs and JJBs on or before 15.04.2024.”

Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. Anant Kumar Asthana, Amicus Curiae

Counsel for Respondents: Mrs Avnish Ahlawat, Standing Counsel, GNCTD with Mrs. Taniya Ahlawat, Mr. Nitesh Kumar Singh and Ms. Laavanya Kaushik, Ms. Aliza Alam and Mr. Mohnish Sehrawat, Advocates; Mr. Satyakam, ASC, GNCTD with Mr. Pradyut Kashyap, Advocates; Mr. Vivek Goyal, CGSPC for UOI with Mr. Gokul Sharma and Mr. Shivam Singh, Advocates; Mr. S.K. Sethi, Advocate for DSLSA; Mr. Hemant Mehta, Legal cum Probation Officer from Department of Women & Child Development, GNCTD; Mr. H.S. Phoolka, Senior Advocate with Ms. Prabhsahay Kaur, Ms. Rachna Tyagi, Ms. Taruna Panwar, Ms. Tanvi Singh, Ms. Surpreet Kaur, Ms. Mehak Rankawat and Mr. Bir Inder Singh, Advocates for intervnor Bachpan Bachao Andolan

Title: COURT ON ITS OWN MOTION v. GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI AND ORS.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 218

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