Cuttack: Orissa high court has converted a man’s petition alleging illegal detention and assault of his minor son at Bhadrak’s Pirahat police station last year into a PIL, stating that the case exposed serious lapses in the manner in which children are handled at the police station and needs wider scrutiny. The petition was filed by the juvenile’s father on Jan 9.A division bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M S Raman, in its June 29 order, said that while CCTV footage did not support the allegation that the child was assaulted inside the police station, it revealed ‘discrepancies, violations and non-adherence of statutory provisions’ governing the treatment of children under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and the Odisha Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2018.“There is complete apathy by the police administration in inculcating a sense of responsibility while treating a child whether in conflict with law or otherwise,” the bench observed.The 14-year-old was summoned to the police station last year for questioning in connection with an alleged mobile theft case. The child was accompanied by his father. The court noted that CCTV footage showed the child entering the police station at 7:52 pm on Nov 2, 2025, and leaving with his father at 12:04 am, indicating that there was no illegal detention as alleged in the petition.It also found that medical records produced by the petitioner did not corroborate the allegation of assault, except showing that the child was admitted to a hospital on Nov 4 and discharged the next day.However, the judges said the child’s treatment by the police raised ‘serious concern’ as it was inconsistent with statutory safeguards.According to Rule 14 of the Odisha Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2018, in petty as well as serious offences, police are required to forward information and the accused child’s social background report to the Juvenile Justice Board and inform parents/guardians about the hearing, instead of summoning the child to a police station.“We feel that the instant writ petition should be converted into a regular public interest litigation so as to deal with cases where there have been rampant violation and/or implementation of various provisions of the Act concerning children,” the HC order stated.During an earlier hearing on May 18, the bench noted that the police’s own instructions suggested the inspector in-charge (IIC) had interrogated the child instead of the designated child welfare police officer. It then ordered production of CCTV footage and summoned the SP, the IIC and the child welfare officer, leading to Monday’s decision to expand the proceedings into a PIL on implementation of juvenile justice safeguards.
