law: Children Act, 1960
  2. Definitions
  In this Act, unless
  
  the context otherwise requires,-
  (a)
  
  "Administrator" means the administrator of a Union territory, whether
  
  called a Lieutenant Governor, a Chief Commissioner or by any other name;
  (b)
  
  "begging" means-
  (i) soliciting or receiving alms in a public
  
  place or entering on any private premises for the purpose of soliciting or
  
  receiving alms, whether under the pretence of singing, dancing,
  
  fortune-telling, performing tricks or selling articles or otherwise;
  (ii) exposing or exhibiting with the object of
  
  obtaining or extorting alms any sore, wound, injury, deformity or disease,
  
  whether of himself or of any other person or of an animal;
  (iii) allowing oneself to be used as an
  
  exhibit for the purpose of soliciting or receiving alms;
  (c) "Board"
  
  means a Child Welfare Board constituted under section 4;
  (d)
  
  "brothel", "prostitute", "prostitution" and
  
  "public place" shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them
  
  in the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act, 1956;
  (e) "child"
  
  means a boy who has not attained the age of sixteen years or a girl who has not
  
  attained the age of eighteen years;
  (f) "children's
  
  court" means a court constituted under section 5;
  (g) "children's
  
  home" means an institution established or certified by the Administrator
  
  under. section 9 as a children's home;
  (h) "competent
  
  authority" means, in relation to neglected children, a Board constituted
  
  under section 4 and, in relation to delinquent children a children's court
  
  constituted under section 5, and where no such Board or children's court has
  
  been constituted, includes any court empowered under sub-section (2) of section
  
  7 to exercise the powers conferred on a Board or children's court;
  (i) "dangerous
  
  drug" shall have the meaning assigned to it in the Dangerous Drugs Act,
  
  1930;
  (j) "delinquent
  
  child" means a child who has been found to have committed an offence;
   3  [(jj) "fit
  
  person" or "fit institution" means any person or institution
  
  (not being a police station or jail) found fit by the competent authority to
  
  receive and take care of a child entrusted to his or its care and protection on
  
  the terms and conditions specified by the competent authority;]
  (k)
  
  "guardian" in relation to a child, includes any person who, in the
  
  opinion of the competent authority having cognizance of any proceeding in
  
  relation to a child, has, for the time being, the actual charge of, or control
  
  over, that child;
  (l) "neglected
  
  child" means a child who-
  (i) is found begging;
  
  or
  (ii) is found without having any home or
  
  settled place of abode or any ostensible means of subsistence or is found
  
  destitute, whether he is an orphan or not; or
  (iii) has a parent or guardian who is unfit 3[or
  
  unable] to exercise or does not exercise proper care and control over the
  
  child; or
  (iv) lives in a brothel or with a prostitute
  
  or frequently goes to any place used for the purpose of prostitution, or is
  
  found to associate with any prostitute or any other person who leads an
  
  immoral, drunken or depraved life;
  (m) "observation
  
  home" means any institution or place established or recognized by the Administrator
  
  under section 11 as an observation home;
  (n)
  
  "offence" means an offence punishable under any law for the time
  
  being in force;
   3  [(nn) "place of
  
  safety" means any place or institution (not being a police station or
  
  jail), the person in charge of which is willing temporarily to receive and take
  
  care of a child and which in the opinion of the competent authority may be a
  
  place of safety for the child;]
  (o)
  
  "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
  (p) "probation
  
  officer" means an officer appointed as a probation officer under this Act
  
  or under the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958;
  (q) "special
  
  school" means an institution established or certified by the Administrator
  
  under section 10;
  (r) "supervision",
  
  in relation to a child placed under the care of any parent, guardian or other 4[fit
  
  person or fit institutions] under this Act, means the supervision of that child
  
  by a probation officer for the purpose of ensuring that the child is properly
  
  looked after and that the conditions imposed by the competent authority are
  
  complied with;
  (s) all words and
  
  expressions used but not defined in this Act and defined in the 5[Code
  
  of Criminal Procedure, 1973], shall have the meanings assigned to them in that
  
  Code.