Overview
- Between November 2022 and October 2023, Juvenile Justice Boards handled 100,904 cases but disposed of 45,097, leaving more than half pending and over 50,000 children waiting.
- One in four boards lacked a full bench, and about 30% had no attached legal services clinic, slowing hearings and limiting access to counsel.
- Fourteen states plus Jammu and Kashmir reported no Places of Safety, inspections of homes fell to 810 of 1,992 required, and only 40 girls-only homes were identified across 292 districts.
- Pendency varied sharply by state, reaching 83% in Odisha versus 35% in Karnataka, with an average backlog of 154 cases per board.
- With no JJB data repository, the India Justice Report filed over 250 RTIs and found only 36% of 500 responses usable, prompting calls by Justice Madan B. Lokur and Maja Daruwala for a child-centric national data grid and staffing reforms.