E-Paper
SC sends notices to Centre, states over measures taken to combat child trafficking
The SC made the observation after the issue of children being trafficked from a Kolkata orphanage was brought to its notice.
Stating that nothing was more ‘disastrous than the sale of children’, the Supreme Court on Thursday sent notices to states and the Centre to know what measures they have taken to combat child trafficking.
“A child cannot be bartered away at the whim and fancy or selfishness of the person in-charge of orphanages. The person concerned may be liable for violation of human rights,” read the order passed by a CJI Dipak Misra-headed bench as it brought the rules related to functioning of orphanages in various states under its scrutiny.
The SC made the observation after the issue of children being trafficked from a Kolkata orphanage was brought to its notice.
Observing that the future of the country was dependent on the character and destiny of its children, the apex court also decided to into the issue of setting up of human rights courts as envisaged under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. The law would “include the dignity of the individual and in that compartment dignity of a child deserves to be covered,” it said.
The SC order came on a petition filed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) against an earlier Calcutta HC ruling, in which the court restrained the national child rights body from getting involved in the issue of child trafficking in West Bengal since the state commission had already been apprised of the situation.
Additional solicitor general Tushar Mehta said the high court order was contrary to the law as NCPCR was empowered to deal with child trafficking in any state
