The Delhi High Court has observed that the growing trend of criminals exploiting children to commit serious offences — from liquor and drug trafficking to armed violence — is prompting society to reconsider the statutory age of juvenility.
Justice Girish Kathpalia made the remarks while dismissing the anticipatory bail plea of a man accused of involving a minor in illicit liquor transportation. The court stressed that the abuse of children in executing crimes was far more alarming than the offence itself.
“Over a period of time, it is being observed that criminals use children to commit wide ranging crimes… which is leading the society to consider re-fixing the age of juvenility. In my view, far more serious than the illicit liquor trafficking is the child abuse in carrying out such crimes,” the judge noted.
According to the prosecution, the case stemmed from a Juvenile Justice Board directive to register an FIR against the accused after a minor — who could not be treated as both accused and victim in the same case — was produced before it.
Denying relief, the court emphasised the need for custodial interrogation to determine whether the accused was part of a wider network using children for similar activities. “It is necessary to unearth if there is a wide network engaged in similar activities using children. Therefore, I do not find it a fit case to grant anticipatory bail,” the order stated.
