Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Saturday (October 10, 2026) said names of ‘children in conflict with the law’ must be kept out of the news and off the internet, and the phrase describes a circumstance, not an identity.
“The journey truly ends only when the past no longer casts a shadow over the future. He also urged legal services institutions to consider creating a separate wing of trained defence counsel for children, so each has a dedicated lawyer from the first hour, and the same lawyer continues to assist, from the police station to the final order and into rehabilitation. Speaking at the inaugural session, Supreme Court Justice B.V.
He said that is why NALSA’s child-friendly legal services scheme of 2024 provides for a lawyer at the police station and a legal services clinic at every Juvenile Justice Board.
He was speaking after inaugurating the National Annual Stakeholders’ Consultation on “Ten Years of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015: Progress, Challenges and Priorities for the Next Decade” organised by the Juvenile Justice Committee of the Supreme Court in association with UNICEF. For that, we must destroy old records on time, and keep the names of ‘children in conflict with law’ out of the news and off the internet, where they can linger for years,” he said. Nagarathna said this consultation is an occasion to take stock of this “seminal piece” of legislation and what these past 10 years have meant for the children for whom the law exists. She said the Juvenile Justice Board is not intended to be a “miniature criminal court” and its role is anchored in a different philosophy, one which recognises that children possess capacities for development and change, and that the response of the justice system must take that developmental reality seriously.
“Rehabilitation that ends at the gate of an institution is not rehabilitation at all, for reintegration means restoring a young person’s place in family, school and community without stigma,” the CJI said.
