Under Sec 3 (1) of JJSA 2018; “Legal assistance. Every juvenile or a child who is victim of an offence shall have the right of legal assistance at expense of the State”, however there are 29 children without legal representation. Ten juveniles have been granted bail but have no recourse to sureties. Sadly, of the kids 75% male juveniles have no father and are from the most impoverished sections of society. It may also be noted also that a recent judgment of the Supreme Court, 2022 PLD 551 SC authored by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, the Supreme Court has declared that juveniles accused of heinous crimes have the right to be released on bail under Section 6(5) of the Juvenile Justice System Act 2018, provided that their trial could not be concluded within a period of six months and that the delay is not attributed to the accused. The Court also held that if there are reasonable grounds for believing that the release of a juvenile may bring him in association with criminals or expose him to any danger, the Court shall place the juvenile under the custody of a suitable person or Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre under the supervision of a probation officer. The juvenile shall not under any circumstances be kept in a police station under police custody or jail in such cases. Story of Danish Mehmood Danish Mehmood, s/o Gul Kitab is an 11-year-old child garbage collector caught for stealing iron from the trash. He has been in Adiala jail since 21.9.2022 without legal counsel. Under Sec 6 (3) “Where a juvenile is arrested or detained for the commission for a minor or major offence for the purposes of this Act, he shall be treated as if he was accused of commission of a bailable offence”. Danish has no bail and remains in jail. With no support from the state and no father or family to help him out, he will remain incarcerated with habitual and hardened juvenile offenders. NCHR with support of a pro bono lawyer Mr Haseeb Sultan has filed bail applications for 9 juveniles like Danish however, it is the responsibility of the state, under law to provide support and assistance to juvenile offenders. The LAJA must proactively enquire into such cases and provide for their bail and release. Story of Gul Wali and Nasir Khan Gul Wali s/o Ameer Mohammad and Nasir Khan s/o Khalid Khan, both first time offenders, have been in Adiala jail under Sec 457/380 PPC for allegedly stealing a mobile phone. FIR is not in the names of the accused and there is delay of one day in the registering of the FIR. 20