NEW DELHI: More than 50,000 children in conflict with the law remain stuck in a slow-moving justice system where over half the cases are pending at 362 Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs), according to a new India Justice Report (IJR) study released on Thursday.

Despite ten years of the Juvenile Justice Act coming into force, glaring gaps, ranging from missing judges, under-inspected homes, absent data systems and wide state-level disparities continue to afflict justice delivery, the study said.

The report, Juvenile Justice and Children in Conflict with the Law: A Study of Capacity at the Frontlines, shows that as of October 31, 2023, 55 per cent of 100,904 cases before JJBs were pending, with pendency ranging from 83 per cent in Odisha to 35 per cent in Karnataka.

Though 92 per cent of India's 765 districts have constituted JJBs, one in four boards operates without a full bench.

On average, each JJB carried a backlog of 154 cases.

The findings come against the backdrop of 40,036 juveniles being apprehended in 31,365 cases under the IPC and special laws in 2023, with three-fourths of them aged between 16 and 18, according to Crime in India data.

Yet, a decade after decentralising juvenile justice architecture, the study says systemic limitations continue to block timely support and rehabilitation.