In the latest judgment ‘Shilpa Mittal V. State of NCT of Delhi’ (2020) 2 SCC 787; the Supreme Court stated that the framers of the Legislation did not take into consideration the fourth category offences. ‘How and in what manner a juvenile who commits such offences should be dealt with was something that the Legislature should have clearly spelt out in the Act.’
Considering the fact that the object of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 is that children should be protected and treating children as adults is an exception to the rule; the Hon’ble Court remarked that the Fourth category of offences i.e. offence where the maximum sentence is more than 7 years imprisonment, but no minimum sentence or minimum sentence of less than 7 years is provided, shall be treated as ‘serious offences’ within the meaning of the Act until the Parliament takes the call on the matter.