'Law to protect women forced into prostitution'

The apex court which was hearing the issues relating to trafficking of women and children is told that the draft Bill in this regard was in the process of being placed in Parliament.

A proposed law for curbing human trafficking will have an important provision to protect from criminal prosecution the women who are forced into prostitution, the Supreme Court was informed on Thursday.

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The apex court which was hearing the issues relating to trafficking of women and children was told that the draft Bill in this regard was in the process of being placed in Parliament.

"The draft Bill contains a good provision that the women would neither be arrested nor subjected to penal provision," senior advocate Colin Gonsalves submitted before a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan.

However, he said there was a worrying factor as the Bill envisages prosecution of those visiting the brothels.

Further, the government has ignored 20 recommendations made by the NHRC after thorough research. The report was prepared by the rights body after visiting each state in the country, he said.

A similar exercise was repeated with the same result by the National Commission for Women, he said.

Another senior advocate U U Lalit, who is appearing in the matter, submitted that though the suggestions put forth during the hearing in last two years have drawn the attention of Parliament about the seriousness of the issue, the legislation has not yet been passed.

The Bench, also comprising Justice P Sathasivam, wanted to know from the Centre as to how much time it will require to place the Bill in Parliament.

However, the Bench did not get encouraging response from the Centre as its counsel said the issue relating to Indo-US nuclear deal will dominate the next session of Parliament and there was little chance that the Bill would be tabled in the House.