Enforcing Juvenile Justice Act: 207 Orphanages in Kerala to close down

Counsels representing 207 Orphanages in Kerala submitted before the Supreme Court on Tuesday that their decision is to close down if registration under Juvenile Justice Act is made mandatory in the final verdict is to that effect.

Counsels Husaif Ahmadi and Adv Zulfikar Ali who represented Samastha Orphanages and Charitable Homes Co-ordination Committee informed the court about the decision.

Following the submissions, the bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta said the matter would be considered at the next hearing and posted it for 11 July.

Kerala Government informed the court that based on the earlier court verdict, child care centres that were not registered under the Juvenile Justice Act have been served notice and that 79 such centres were asked to close. These were outside the 207 orphanages. At the same time, the Samastha lawyers also informed the court that the body had allowed about a hundred orphanages under the umbrella body to get registered under the JJ Act under pressure from the state government, and in the hope that the Supreme Court verdict may be against the insistence. However, in case the Supreme Court verdict went against that, those centres also would be closed.