Juvenile criminal law is on the way to reform

The city is observing a worrying trend: more and more minors are violating traffic rules, which leads to Legal consequences also for their parents. Stressing the importance of applying the Juvenile Justice Act in these cases, Deputy Police Commissioner (DCP) Traffic East Kuldeep Kumar Jain said, “We have seen cases where minor children, even school children, are riding two-wheelers. In view of the incidents in Mumbai and Pune, we have started enforcing the Juvenile Justice Act (JJ Act) more strictly in the city.”

Recently, the KR Puram traffic police filed an FIR (first investigation report) under the JJ Act in a case where a minor was caught riding a Honda Activa with three friends. The police have also initiated legal action against the owner of the scooter and the minor's parents. In another case, the Yelahanka police have booked an 18-year-old under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for performing dangerous stunts while under the influence of ganja.

To counter the increasing number of such incidents, Bengaluru Traffic Police are now taking stricter measures to curb violations and ensure greater compliance with traffic laws.

4 cases in the last 2 months
The DCP also stressed that parental negligence also needs to be tackled more effectively. “So far, we have registered four cases under the JJ Act in the last one and a half months, three of them related to bike stunts. Despite awareness campaigns and press releases, these cases continue to rise in the city and hence it is necessary to prosecute some of these cases to curb this problem,” he explained.

The increased focus on the JJ Act follows similar incidents in Mumbai and Pune, where minors were involved in dangerous stunts and Traffic violations led to stricter enforcement of laws to hold parents and guardians accountable.

In a recent case in Mumbai, the city police have booked a 16-year-old boy under the JJ Act, who was caught performing dangerous stunts on a motorcycle in a residential area. In addition, the boy's father, who owned the motorcycle, was booked for negligence and also booked under the relevant sections.

Strict measures
In view of the increasing number of cases in Bengaluru, the traffic police are now stressing the need for preventive measures, in addition to strict enforcementto address the problem more comprehensively. “Minors who do bike stunts or ride three-wheelers, violating traffic rules, will be punished severely. We make the parents responsible for providing them with the vehicles. Once we find a minor involved in such activities, we arrest the parents under the JJ Act. If the minor is found under the influence of drugs, he will also be booked under the NDPS Actand from then on, law enforcement agencies take over,” said Siri Gowri, DCP Traffic North.