Responding to the writ petition (habeas corpus) filed by Advocacy Forum-Nepal on 9 April 2020, the Supreme Court issued an order against the Kathmandu District Court, District Government Attorney Office (Babarmahal), Narcotics Control Bureau (Koteshwor), Child Correction Home (Sano Thimi), Bhaktapur to release the illegally detained juveniles on parental custody. The juveniles were subsequently released on 14 April 2020.
Two juveniles, KA and KHA (name changed) were arrested in substance abuse allegations on 10 March 2020 and kept at Child Correction Home, Sano Thimi, Bhaktapur. From the date of arrest till 9 April 2020, both juveniles were kept in custody and illegally detained. The illegal detention of any persons is regarded as deprivation of the personal liberty.
Both juveniles have been accused of Drug/Narcotic Dia/FXI-DI Offense. As per the law, if the Authority provides consent then the juveniles can be kept in custody for a maximum time period of 21 days for investigation. However, even after exceeding the permissable timeframe, both juveniles were detained for 31 without filing charge-sheet.
Moreover, as per Article 16, 17 (1) ,18 , 20 (3) (9) , 39 of the Constitution, Section 21, 26 of the Act relating to Children (2018) and Section 7, 20 (1) of the National Civil Code, 2017, the incident violates the personal liberty of the juveniles. Furthermore, the act of keeping the juveniles in confinement irrespective of the permissible time period violates Section 21 (7) of the Act relating to Children (2018), Section 14 of the National Criminal Procedure Code, 2017. Likewise, Section 7 of National Civil Code, 2017, explicitly deems any act contrary to law as invalid.
In addition, such illegal act by the Authorities also violate Article 3 (1) of Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 which states that “In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be the primary consideration.”
In Nepal, the situation of juveniles in child correction homes and government detention facilities is critical due to poor and insufficient infrastructures and weak implementation of prevailing laws. The situation further deteriorates due to COVID- 19 pandemic.
