India, Oct. 10 -- Supreme Court judge justice BV Nagarathna on Saturday said the question of treating a child in conflict with law as an adult was one of the "most delicate fault lines" in India's criminal justice system.

"It is a question where anxiety about crime confronts constitutional commitment to childhood, where public outrage meets legislative restraint, and where the impulse of punishment competes with the philosophy of reform," justice Nagarathna said.

The Supreme Court judge, however, refrained from calling for any change in legislation, saying instead that the law was "largely clear on paper". The real challenge lay in its implementation, she said.

Justice Nagarathna was speaking at the Supreme Court's 'National Consultati...