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New Delhi: On June 21, The Wire reported that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of a report by The Wire Hindi concerning the nearly two-month-long incarceration of a 16-year-old minor, Nitin (name changed for anonymity), alongside adult inmates in connection with the Noida labour protests case.

Shortly after, the Gautam Buddha Nagar Police Commissionerate issued a statement claiming that at the time of arrest, the individual had stated his age to be 19 years, while the initial medical examination recorded it as 18. The police also released a copy of an Aadhaar card displaying the name ‘Dinesh,’ with a birth date of January 1, 2007.

According to the police, the card with Dinesh’s name belongs to Nitin. The statement further noted that he was employed at a private company in Noida and the identification proof submitted during the hiring process also bore the same birth date. However, Nitin’s lawyer, Manik Gupta, has claimed that the copy does not belong to Nitin and is instead his elder brother Dinesh’s. 

Dinesh had earlier clarified in a conversation with The Wire Hindi that he had never been employed in Noida and had only travelled to Noida once before Nitin’s arrest. “I haven’t even seen the route to Noida,” Dinesh said, “I have worked as a labourer only in Punjab and Haryana.” He also clarified that his brother was not employed at any factory in Noida either and was a helper at a grocery store. 

Nitin was taken into custody on April 14. Even though his Aadhaar card indicated that he is a minor, he was charged as an adult and jailed alongside adult offenders for almost two months. Although a court granted him bail in relation to FIR no. 165 on May 29, he........

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