Childhood in Transition: Judicial Approaches to Juvenile Justice and Digital Vulnerability in India

The notion of childhood in India is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by digitization, social media exposure, and evolving socio-economic structures. This paper explores how the Indian judiciary has navigated these changes through the interpretation of child rights and juvenile justice principles. Grounded in landmark judgments such as Pratap Singh v. State of Jharkhand (2005) 3 SCC 551, Shilpa Mittal v. State (NCT of Delhi) (2020) 2 SCC 787, and Bachpan Bachao Andolan v. Union of India (2013) 3 SCC 598, the study analyzes how courts have balanced culpability, rehabilitation, and protection under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. It highlights how legal discourse around “childhood” now extends into digital spaces—covering issues of cyber exploitation, online grooming, and data privacy of minors. By integrating sociological insights with jurisprudential analysis, the research proposes a conceptual model of “Digital Childhood Justice,” emphasizing restorative justice, digital literacy, and psychosocial rehabilitation as key pillars of youth protection. The study further examines the ethical challenges of AI-driven surveillance in educational and juvenile reform institutions, urging policy alignment between child protection law, technology regulation, and education reform. Ultimately, it argues that safeguarding childhood in the 21st century requires not only compassionate legal interpretation but also proactive digital governance rooted in equity and human dignity. It concludes with a call for a national framework on digital childhood rights integrating education, justice, and cyber ethics.