LAF team consisting of Mr. P.I.Jose, Secretary and Mr. K.S.Bhati, Treasurer and Mr. Jayesh K.U. Joint Secretary visited Chennai from 17th to 21st June 2010. The purpose of the visit was to meet Hon'ble Chief Justice and Judges of the High Court, officials of the State Government and the police officers to appraise them about the project 'Monitoring Mechanism for Juvenile Justice System' undertaken by LAF in partnership with Unicef. State of Tamil Nadu being one of the piloted States under the project, it was necessary to interact with the officials so as to convince them about the need of the mechanism and the improvement it will bring about. Mr. K. Radhakrishnan, Advocate, Supreme Court and Mr. T. Saravanan, Advocate, Madras High Court, LAF Coordinators for the State of Tamil Nadu facilitated the meetings and participated in the discussion.

The LAF team separately met Hon'ble the Chief Justice and following Judges:

1.Hon’ble Mr Justice M.Y. Eqbal, Chief Justice, Madras High Court
2.Hon’ble Ms Justice Prabha Sridevan, Chairperson, Tamil Nadu Judicial Academy
3.Hon’ble Mr Justice K.N.Basha, Judge, Madras High Court
4.Hon’ble Mr Justice Nagamuthu, Judge, Madras High Court and
5.Hon’ble Mr Justice T Raja, Judge, Madras High Court

Mr P.I.Jose briefed the Hon'ble Chief Justice and other Hon'ble Judges about the necessity of the proposed Monitoring Mechanism in the State of Tamil Nadu. Copy of the Monitoring Mechanism which was revised after the last National Consultation was handed to the Hon'ble Chief Justice and other Hon'ble Judges.

It was pointed out that despite the requirement of section 4(1) of the JJ Act, 2000 to constitute Juvenile Justice Boards in each of 32 Districts in the State latest by 22.08.2007, there are only 8 Juvenile Justice Boards in the State of Tamil Nadu.

It was also informed that according to the Crime in India Report,2007 about 2500 juvenile offences were reported in the State. The Hon’ble Chief Justice was requested to nominate one of the Hon'ble Judges to monitor the function of the Juvenile Justice System in the State. Hon'ble Chief Justice, who was actively involved in juvenile matters during his tenure at the Jharkhand High Court, appreciated the work done by the LAF in the field. He promised to look into the matter in detail and take necessary steps for nominating a Judge of Hon’ble High court of Madras to monitor the functioning of Juvenile Justice System in the State with whom the LAF can interact and take further follow up action. Other Hon'ble Judges also took active interest in the project, appreciated the idea and assured to look into the proposal in detail and give their valuable suggestion.  Mr K.S. Bhati and Mr. Jayesh K.U. thanked the Hon’ble Chief Justice and other Hon'ble Judges for granting opportunity to LAF team to explain the project and interest taken by them.

The following officials met the LAF team

1.Mrs. Lathika Saran, IPS, Director General of Police
2.Mrs. Archana Ramasundaram, IPS, Addl. Director General of Police
3.Mrs. Seema Agrawal, IPS, Inspector General of Police (Welfare),
4.Mr.M.N.Manjunatha, IPS, Inspector General of Police
5.Mr.Amaresh Poojari, IPS, Inspector General of Police
6.Mr.Kannappan, Deputy Inspector General of Police
7.Mr.Sreedhar, Deputy Commissioner of Police
8.Mr.Gnaneswar, Assistant Commissioner of Police

Discussion on the necessity of a monitoring mechanism for SJPUs of the State of Tamil Nadu and inter-departmental co-ordination with the Judiciary and Social Welfare Departments of the State Government was discussed. Mrs. Lathika Saran, DGP was quite positive about the proposal to have a monitoring mechanism and she appraised the LAF team about the factual situation currently existing in the State of Tamil Nadu. Mr. P.I.Jose, Secretary, LAF explained the proposed monitoring mechanism and Mr. K.S.Bhati, Treasurer, LAF dealt with the necessity for introducing the system for enforcing the law relating to Juvenile Justice System.

Mr Amaresh Pujari, IGP explained how they have already taken note of the requirements of the provisions of laws  and incorporated training module into the training course for police officials at all the three levels i.e. constables, sub-inspectors and Deputy Superintendent of Police. He also mentioned that the Tamil Nadu Police also undertake regular training to the serving officials and juvenile justice has been introduced in the course too. Mr Manjunatha, IGP and Mr Kannappan, DIG explained some of the practical difficulties they faced in the Juvenile Justice Board as well as while dealing with the Social Welfare Department. The general discussion followed, in which active contribution was made by each participant. Ms Archana Ramasundaram made concluding observations and gave necessary directions to one of her officials to study the proposed monitoring mechanism in detail with a view to find out whether the grass root working in the State needs any modification before implementing the mechanism. Both sides thanked each other and meeting concluded with a promise to give the response within a period of 2-3 weeks.

LAF team had a meeting in the Social Welfare Department of the State Government. Director, Social Welfare being on training at Mussorie, the charge of Juvenile Division was looked after by Mrs. Meenakshi Rajagopal, IAS, Principal Secretary and Special Commissioner, Integrated Child Development Scheme. At the Social Welfare Department, Mr. Vidyasagar and Mr. Seshadri of Unicef Madras joined the LAF team. The combined LAF-Unicef team met Mrs. Meenakshi Rajagopal, and gave a copy of the monitoring mechanism prepared by LAF. The details of the mechanism was explained to her by Mr. P.I.Jose, Secretary. Mrs. Rajagopal took keen interest in understanding the details. She suggested that it would be appropriate to study the proposed mechanism by a specialist officer of her department so that if there is any gap qua the ground realities of working of JJ system in the State, it could be addressed before the mechanism is formally introduced. Accordingly, she agreed to see that necessary steps are taken at her end and feedbacks will be intimated to the LAF within a period of 2 to 3 weeks. The meeting concluded with a positive assurance from either side to interact with each other for organizing the state level consultation meeting in Tamil Nadu for implementation of the mechanism.

LAF team had a very positive and useful meetings with all the high dignitaries connected with Juvenile Justice System in the State of Tamilnadu . It was first interaction by the LAF in the State of Tamil Nadu and the response was very encouraging. It has been decided that power point presentation on the Monitoring Mechanism for Juvenile Justice System would be made by inviting all the stake holders sometime in the month of August, 2010.