Courts, police not equipped to understand challenges faced by children with disabilities: CJI DY Chandrachud

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Saturday bemoaned that judicial and legal institutions in the country are not adequately equipped or sensitised to understand the unique challenges faced by children with disabilities.

We as a nation have not prepared our justice institutions and judges, police officers and lawyers to handle the needs of children with disabilities, he said.

"Are we truly equipped to handle needs of children with disabilities in the justice system. Have we prepared our justice institution or the judges, police officers to understand the unique challenges faced by such individuals. Sadly the answer is no," the CJI stated.

Hence, professionals within the justice system require ongoing training and sensitization to comprehend the nuanced vulnerabilities of these children.

"Justice system requires continuous training to understand the nuanced vulnerabilities of these children. Sensitise them towards it and it will not only reduce revictimisation of children within justice system but also ensure compassionate handling of such cases," he stated.

He was delivering the keynote address at the National Annual Stakeholders Consultation on Child Protection.

Significantly, the CJI noted that though laws such as Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act (JJ Act) are steps towards ensuring that children with disability are treated with dignity, the punitive approach in these legislations continue to to pose a hurdle.

"This punitive approach may not address the root causes of abuse or neglect, nor provide adequate support or rehabilitation for the child involved in conflict with the law. While these laws acknowledge the vulnerability of children with disabilities, their impact on the ground is often limited. The framework remains largely reactive, placing more emphasis on post-offense penalties rather than proactive prevention, support, and rehabilitation," the CJI stated.

The CJI also revealed details of his personal experience as a foster parent to two daughters who were born with the genetic condition known as Nemaline myopathy.

"There was absence of knowledge about this condition among doctors, caregivers and especially their parents. There were no testing facility in major institutes of India and the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences at Lucknow told us that part of tissue would be removed from both the children by anaesthesia. So painful. The older child said don't let my sister go through the pain. There was no school for them, but they would have bags etc in Allahabad at home where they would play school at home. When we shifted to Delhi, there was a school Tamanna for autism and we were told that they were not same. These two were razor sharp and only had genetic condition. When we went to other schools, principals and teachers told that they might have to deal with instances. We were concerned of bullying etc. Sanskriti school put our worries to rest," the CJI said.

CJI also revealed that it was his younger daughter Mahi's continuous persistence which made him turn vegan and adopt a cruelty-free life.

"Mahi is an environmentalist and she believes in living a cruelty free life. She is a mother to 8 cats and single handedly delivered a litter of 5 kittens in the middle of the night. In the course of living this life, she has been telling us to pursue a cruelty free life and it took her 10 years to convince me and judges sometimes take long to be persuaded...they were the reasons why I switched to veganism and it is about a lifestyle which does not accept cruelty. We have to recognise the autonomy and agency of each child," said CJI Chandrachud.

[Read live coverage of event below]