Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
Persons who may be present before competent authority -(1) Save as provided in th1s Act, no person shall be present at any sittmg of a competent authority, except- (aJ any officer of the competent authonty; or (b) the parties to the inquiry before the competent authority, the parent or guardian of the child and other persons directly concerned in the inquiry including police- )io.. officers , or (c) such other persons as the competent authority may permit to be present. (2) Notwithstanding section (1), If, at any stage anything during an contained inquiry a m sub- competent 21 authority considers it to be expedient in the interest of the child or on grounds of decency or morality that any person includmg the police officers, legal practitioners, the parent, guardian or the child himself should withdraw, the competent authonty may g1n such directwn and if any person refuses to comply with such direction, the competent authority may have him removed and may, for this purpose, cause to be used such force as may be necessary (3) No legal practit10ner shall be entitled to appear before a competent authonty in any case or proceedmg before it, except With the special permission of that authority. 29 Attendance of parent or guardian of chtld -Any competent authonty before which a child is brought under any of the provisions of this Act may, whenever It so thinks fit, require any parent or guardian havmg the actual charge of, or control over, the child to be present at any proceeding in respect of the child 30 Dtspensing with attendance of child -If, at any stage during the course of an inqmry, a competent authonty is satisfied that the attendance of the child is not essential for the purpose of the mquiry, the competent aulhority may dispense with his attendance and proceed With the mquiry in the absence of the child 31 Commtttal to approved place of chtld suffering from dangerous dtsease and it<; future dtsposal -(1) When a child who has been brought before a competent authority under this Act IS found to be suffering from a disease requiring prolonged medical treatment or physical or mental complamt that will respond to treatment, the competent authonty may send the child to any place recognised to be an approved place in accordance With the rules made under this Act for such period as it may thmk necessary for the required treatment (2) Where a child is found to be suffering from leprosy or is of unsound mind, he shall be dealt with under the provi- sions of the Lepers Act, 1898 (Central Act 3 of 1898) or the Indian Lunacy Act, 1912 (Central Act 4 of 19 12), as the case may be (3) Where a competent authority has taken action under sub-sectiOn (1) in the case of a child suffermg from an infectious or contageous disease, the competent authority 22 before restormg the said child to his partner in marriage, if there has been such, or to the guardian, as the case may be, shall, where It Is sahsfied that such actwn will be m thfl mterest of the said child, call upon his partner m marnage o;· the guardian, as the case may be, to satisfy the competent authonty by submitting to medical exammatwn that such partner or guardian wlll not re-mfect the cluld m respect of whom the order has been passed. 32 Presumptwn and tietermmatwn of age -(1) Wher<? 1t appears to a competent authonty that a person brought before it under any of the provisions of tlus Act (otherwise than for thE. purpose of giving evidence) Is a child, the competent authonty shall make due mqmry as to the age of that person and for that purpose shall take such evidence as may be necessary and. shall record a findmg whether the person 1s a ch1ld or not, statmg his age as nearly as may be (2) No order of a competent authonty shall be deemed to have become mvahd merely by any subsequent proof that the person m respect of whom the order has been made is not a child, and the age recorded by the competent authority to be the age of the person so brought before It shall, for the purpose of this Act, be deemed to be the true age of tha': person 33 Czrcumstances to be taken znto conszderatzon zn mak. zng orders under the Act -ln makmg any order m respect of a child, under this Act, a competent authonty shall take mto consideratwn the followmg Circumstances, namely (a) the age of the chlld , (b) the circumstances m which the child Is hvmg, (c) the reports made by the probatiOn officer , (d) the rehgwus persuaswn of the ch1ld, (e) such other circumstances as may, m the opmwn of the competent authonty, reqmre to be taken mto considera- tion m the mterests of the child Provided that m the case of a delinquent child, the above circumstances shaH be taJ{en mto consideratwn after the competent authonty has recorded a findmg agamst the ch1lC: that he has committed the offence. Y1 1 . ' 1 I ' l ...,.._j j 23 Provided further that 1f no report of the probation officer is receiVed within ten weeks of h1s bemg directed under sect1on 14 or of his being mformed under section 18, it shall be open to the competent authonty to proceed without the report of the probatwn officer 34 Sendmg a chtld outside JUrisdtction -In the case of a neglected or delmquent child whose ordmary place of residence lies outs1de the ]unsd1ctwn of the competent authority before wh1ch he 1s brought, the competent authority may, 1f satisfied after dw~ inqUiry that 1t 1s exped1ent so to do, send the child back to a relative or other person who is fit and willmg to receive .him at his ordinary place of residence and exercise proper <"are and control over h1m, notwithstanding that such place of residence 1s outs1de the JUrisdlctwn of the competent authority, and the competent authonty exerc1smg junsdict!On over the place to which the ch1ld 1s sent shall m respect of any matter arismg subsequently have the same powers in relation to the ch1ld as 1f the origmal order had been passed by 1tself 35 Reports to be treated as confidenttal -The report of the probatwn officer or any Circumstance considered by the competE·nt authority under section 33 shall be treated as confidential · Provided that the competent authonty may, 1f 1t c;o thmks fit, commumcate the substance thereof to the child or h1s parent or guardian and may g1ve such ch1ld, parent or guardian an opportumty of producing such evidence as may be relevant to the matter stated m the report 36 Prohtbitwn of publlcation of names, etc , of children involved m any proceedzng under the Act -(1) No report in any newspaper, magazine or news sheet of any mquiry regard- ing a child under th1s Act shall d1sclose the name, address or school or any other particulars calculated to lead to the identification of the child, nor shall any p1cture of any such ch1ld be published Prov1ded that for reasons to be recorded in wnting the authonty holdmg the inquiry may perm1t such disclosure if in 1ts opimon such disclosure is in the interest of the child (2) Any person contravening the provisions of sub· sectiOn (1) shall be pumshable with fine which may e~tend to one thousand rupees. 3/28-3 24 37 Appeals.-(!) Subject to the provisions of this section, any person aggrieved by an order made by a competent authonty under this Act may, within thirty days from the date of such order, prefer an appeal to the court of sessiOn : Provided that the court of session may entertain the appeal after the expiry of the said penod of thirty days If it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficrent caus-2 from prefernng the appeal m time. (2) No appeal shall lie from- ( a) any order of acqmttal court m respect of a child alleged offence, or made by the children's to have committed an (b) any order made by the children's court in respect of a finding that a person is not a neglected child (3) No second appeal shall lie from any order of the court of session passed in appeal under this section 38 Remswn.-The High Court may, at any timE:, either of its own motion or on an application received in this behalf, call for the record of any proceedmg m whrch any competent authonty or court of sesswn has passed an order, for the purpose of satlsfymg Itself as to the legality or propriety of any such order and may pass such order in relation thereto as Jt thmks fit · Provided that the Htgh Court shall not pass an order under this sectwn prejudicial to any person without giving him a reasonable opportumty of being heard. 39 Procedure m inquiries, appeals and revzswn procee- dmgs -(1) Save as otherwise expressly provided by this Act, a competent authonty while holding any inquiry under any of the provisions of this Act, shall follow such procedure as may be pre"Scribed and subJect thereto, shall follow, as far as may be, the procedure laid down m the Code of Criminal Procedure, 189-8 (Central Act 5 of 1898), for trials in summons cases (2) Save as otherwise expressly provided by or under this Act, the procedure to be followed in hearing appeals or revision proceedings under this Act shall be, as far as practi- cable. m accordance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 ( y ' J I ~ l I l ( J 0 25