Under section 15 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, the Juvenile…

Under section 15(1) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, in case of a heinous offence alleged to have been committed by a child who has completed or is above the age of sixteen years, the Board conducts a preliminary assessment of the child's mental and physical capacity to commit the offence, ability to understand its consequences and the circumstances in which it was allegedly committed. The Board may take the help of experienced psychologists, psycho-social workers or other experts, and the assessment is not a trial. On that basis the Board may transfer the trial to the Children's Court under section 18(3).

A person who has completed eighteen years is not a child under section 2(12), so eighteen cannot be the threshold, and twelve years has no role under section 15. (Formerly, s.27 CrPC used sixteen years as the juvenile age limit, but the BNSS has no such provision.)