Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
Repeal and savings. 7 THE KERALA CHILDREN ACT, 1972 • (Act 3 of 1973) An Act to provzde for the care, protectwn, maintenance, welfa1·e, trammg, educatwn and rehabtlttatwn of neglected or delmquent children and for the trial of delmquent chtldren m the State of Kerala Preamble -WHEREAS it Is expedient to provide for the care, protectiOn, mamtenance, welfare, trammg, education and rehabilitatiOn of neglected or delinquent children and for the trail of delmquent children m the State of Kerala , BE It enacted m the Twenty-third Year of the Republic of India as follows . - CHAPTER I Preliminary ~ 1 Short title, extent and commencement -(1) This Act ..J. - may be called the Kerala Children Act, 1972 (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Kerala (3) It shall come into force on such date as the Govern- ment may, by notification m the Gazette, appomt, and different dates may be appomted for different proviSIOns of this Act or for different areas of the State 2 Definztwns -In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,- ( a) ''authonsed person· means a person authorised by the Government under sub-sectwn (1) of section 12, (b) "beggmg" means- ft) sohcitmg or receivmg alms in a pubhc place or entermg on any pnvate premises for the purpose of sohcitmg or receivmg alms, whether under the pretence of smgmg, dancmg, fortune-tellmg, performmg tricks or sellmg articles or otherwise , or • Published m the Gazette Extraordmary No. 207, dated 9th .iVJ arch 1973 3/28-2 8 (ii) exposing or exhibiting with the object of obtaining or extorting alms any sore, wound, injury, defor- mity or disease, whether of himself or of any other person or of an animal , or (tti) allowmg onself to be used as an exhibit for the purpose of soliciting or receiving alms; ~. (c) "brothel", "prostitute", "prostitution'' and "pubhc place" shall have the meanmgs respectively assigned to them in the Supresswn of Immoral Traffic m Women and Girls Act, 1956 (Central Act 104 of 1956), (d) "chlld" means a boy who has not attained the age of sixteen years or a girl who has not attained the age of eigtheen years and when used with reference to a child sent to a children's home or special school applies to that child durmg the whole penod of the stay, notwithstanding that during the period of such stay, the child may have attained the above age hmit; (e) "children's court" means a court constituted under sect10n 4; (f) "children's home'' means an institution established or certified by the Government under section 8 as a children's home, (g) "competent authonty" means a children's court and includes m respect of any area for which no ch1ldren's court has been constituted any Magistrate empowered under sub- sectiOn (2) of sect10n 6 to exercise the powers conferred on a children's court by or under this Act; (h) "dangerous drug" shall have the meanmg assigned to It m the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930 (Central Act 2 of 1930), (i) "delmquent child" means a child who has been found to have committed an offence; ( J) "guardian", in relation to a child, mcludes any person who, m the opinion of the competent authonty having cogmzance of any proceedmg m relation to a child, has, for the time being, the actual charge of, or control over, that child, (k) "neglected child" means a child who- (z) is found begging; or '(: - I ~ - ... - 9 (ii) is found without having any home or settled place of abode or any ostensible means of subsistence or is found destitute, whether he 1s an orphan or not; or (iii) has a parent or guardian who is unfit to exercise or does not exercise proper care and control over the chtld , or (iv) lives m a brothel or w1th a prostitute or frequently goes to any place used for the purpose of prosti- tutlOn, or is found to assoc1ate w1th any prosti- tute or any other person who leads an Immoral, drunken or depraved life , (l) "observation home ' means any institutiOn or place established or recogmsed by the Government under section 10 as an observatwn home ; (m) "offence'' means an offence punishable under any law for the t1me bemg m force ; (n) "prescnbed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act, ( o) "probation officer'' means an officer appointed as a probation officer under th!s Act or under the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 (Central Act 20 of 1958) , (p) "special school" means an mshtution estabhshed or certified by the Government under section 9 ; (q) "supervisiOn", in relation to a child placed under the care of any parent, guardian or other fit person under this Act, means the supervision of that child by a probatiOn officer for the purpose of ensuring that the child is properly looked after and that the cond1tions imposed by the competent autho- rity are complied w1th, (r) all words and expressions used but not defined m this Act and defined in the Code of Crimmal Procedure, 1898 (Central Act 5 of 1898), shall have the meanings assigned to them in that Code 3 Contmuatzon of inquzry in respect of child who has ceased to be child -Where an inqu1ry has been 1mtiated against a child and during the course of such inquiry the child ceases to be such, then, notw1thstandmg anything contamed m this Act or in any other law for the time bemg m force, the mquiry may be continued and orders may be made in respect of such person as 1f such person had continued to be a child. 3f28-2a 10 CHAPTER II Competent authorities and institutions for children 4 Chlld1·en's courts.-(1) Notw1thstandmg anything con- tamed in the Code of Cnmmal Procedure, 1898 (Central Act f> of 1898), the Government may, by not1ficat10n m the Gazette, constitute for any area spectfied m the notificatwn, one or more ch1ldren's courts for exerctsmg the powers and discharging the duties conferred or 1mposed on such court under th1s Act (2) A children's court shall consist of such number of Magistrates forming a Bench as the Government thmk fit to appoint, of whom one shc;~ll be designated as the senior magistrate and not less than one shall be a woman , and every such Bench shall have the powers conferred by the Code of Crrminal Procedure, 1898 (Central Act 5 of 1898), on a Magistrate of the first class