New Delhi, May 7 (IANS): The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the juvenile justice (amendment) bill which paves the way for children in the 16-18 age group to be tried as adults if they commit heinous crimes.

The amendment to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014, would replace the existing Juvenile Justice Act, 2000.

The new bill clearly defines and classifies offences as petty, serious and heinous, and defines differentiated processes for each category.

The ministry of women and child development introduced the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014, in the Lok Sabha in August 2014.

The bill was referred to the standing committee which recommended keeping the legally defined age of juvenile at 18 years.

However, the government bypassed the recommendations of the committee and decided to go ahead with reduction of age of 'juvenile' to 16 years when found involved in a heinous crime.