Bengaluru, 29 Dec

The Karnataka Commissionerate of Health and Family Welfare Services has issued a circular making district-level Medical Boards compulsory for determining the age of juveniles in conflict with law, in compliance with directions of the Karnataka High Court.

Dated 29 December, the circular follows the High Court’s Kalaburagi Bench order in Criminal/Writ Petition No. 200464/2015, which mandated that the State government must constitute Medical Boards for juvenile age assessment. The directions, issued under Articles 215 and 227 of the Constitution, are binding on all authorities.

Under the guidelines, each Medical Board must comprise four specialists: a physiologist, a dental expert, a radiologist and a forensic expert. As physiologists are not posted at district hospitals, one from the nearest government medical college must be co-opted for each case to provide expert opinion.

The District Surgeon is designated as the nodal officer responsible for coordinating the Board, including convening meetings promptly, ensuring timely examinations, maintaining proper records, and submitting the final report to the referring authority within the prescribed timeframe.

The circular bars individual medical practitioners from conducting age determination examinations; all cases must be referred exclusively to duly constituted Medical Boards. District Surgeons are instructed to immediately circulate the directions to both government and private medical practitioners and submit compliance reports within the stipulated period.