The Rajya Sabha passed the Juvenile Justice Bill by a voice vote on Tuesday, thereby allowing juvenile criminals as young as 16 to be tried as adults for heinous crimes, two days after the release of the juvenile convict in the 16 December, 2012, gangrape case led to protests.
The Lok Sabha had already passed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014. The bill will now be sent to the President for his assent.
The discussion over the Juvenile Justice Bill, which seeks to allow those above 16 to be tried as adults for serious crimes, was piloted in the Upper House of Parliament by Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi.
"They (juvenile convicts) will not stay with adults in jails meant for adults. They will be kept in borstals. It does not exist at present. It will be created," she said in the Rajya Sabha.
Present in the House during the discussion were the parents of 23-year-old Jyoti Singh, who was brutally gangraped and killed in a moving bus in Delhi in 2012.
Asha Devi and Badrinath watched the proceedings from the vistors' gallery in Parliament.
The two have been demanding that juveniles convicted of rape and murder be treated as adults and punished accordingly.
"I am satisfied with the passage of the bill but I feel sad that my daughter did not receive justice," Asha told reporters after the session.
The Left had walked out of the discussion claiming the bill needed more deliberation.
