Juvenile Justice bill passed amid public , media pressure

The long pending Juvenile Justice bill , was finally passed in the Rajya Sabha on the second last day of the anything but fruitful winter session of the Parliament . The current session could pass only 3 bills out of the total 11 bills that were passed by the Lokh Sabha. The bill that was introduced as early as August 2014 , was listed 15 times before it was finally passed in the current session . THE REASON ? Public pressure , media coverage ! Had it not been better if the Rajya Sabha members would have  considered this issue to be important ( as it surely is) earlier itself , and that too on their own . Under the new law , children between 16 to 18 years of age who commit a heinous crime can be tried as adults . List of heinous crimes include the ones that have a jail term of more than 7 years like rape , murder , dacoity..The law will not be retroactive , i.e. it will not be applicable to crimes that took place before the bill was passed. The Women and Child Development Minister , Maneka Gandhi , said that the legislation was a much needed one and was much needed to act as a deterrent