Juvenile Justice Act in India: Punitive or Preventive?

This short article analyses the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 to examine whether it is preventive and reformative in nature or has become punitive in practice. Rooted in child rights principles and influenced by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Act aims to promote the rehabilitation and social reintegration of children in conflict with the law. However, the 2015 amendment introduced a controversial provision allowing juveniles aged 16–18 accused of heinous offences to be tried as adults after a preliminary assessment. The article evaluates judicial interpretation, implementation gaps, and recent data to assess whether this shift undermines the rehabilitative philosophy of juvenile justice. It concludes that while the Act remains reformative in spirit, practical challenges and selective punitive provisions have, at times, produced punitive outcomes.