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Supreme Court directs Bihar govt to file ‘action taken’ report in shelter home abuse cases
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Bihar government to file an action taken report against 25 district magistrates and 37 officials as recommended by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with sexual assault cases in state’s shelter homes, including the one at Muzaffarpur
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Bihar government to file an action taken report against 25 district magistrates and 37 officials as recommended by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with sexual assault cases in state’s shelter homes, including the one at Muzaffarpur.
The order came on an application moved by journalist Nivedita Jha, who first approached the apex court in 2018 against a Patna high court direction that banned media from reporting the “gory details” of the Muzaffarpur shelter home case where several young girls were subjected to torture, sexual abuse and rape.
“The problem is still happening despite the intervention by this court due to the absence of steps taken pursuant to the CBI recommendations and due to lack of effective measures being put in place by the state government,” the application moved by advocate Fauzia Shakil stated.
A bench of chief justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana and justice Krishna Murari gave the Bihar government two weeks to file the action taken report. “State is directed to file an action taken report. It is open to CBI to take assistance from counsels who appeared before trial court,” the bench ordered, adding: “without fail , state to file action taken report.”
Advocate M Sheob Alam, representing the petitioner, referred to a recent incident of sexual abuse reported from state-run Uttar Raksha Grih situated in Patna where the police refused to register any criminal case. “The Patna high court took suo motu (on its own) cognizance of the incident and passed directions to improve the situation,” Alam added.
The state government, represented by advocate Manish Kumar, told the top court that action has been taken pursuant to CBI’s recommendations in 17 shelter home cases. Departmental action was recommended against 25 district magistrates and 37 Bihar government officials by CBI in November-December 2019. The agency also recommended blacklisting of NGOs running these shelter homes.
When the state agreed to provide the details in a sealed cover, the bench said, “Why sealed cover? We only want to see what action has been taken against officials. We do not want to know the details of the victim girls.”
While Muzaffarpur shelter home case was the main case, the court directed CBI in November 2018 to examine similar allegations of sexual abuse at 16 other shelter homes following a report prepared by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
The 100-page report prepared by TISS stated that the Muzaffarpur shelter home was being run in a “highly questionable manner” showing “grave instances of violence”. “Several girls reported about violence and being abused sexually,” the report said, while the condition at three specialised adoption agencies at Madhubani, Patna and Kaimur were “life threatening”. “Girl inmates of a home audited by TISS reported that bathrooms had no latches from inside and they always felt insecure. Even boys were subjected to violence and sexual abuse in the state-run homes,” the TISS report said.
Additional solicitor general (ASG) Madhavi Divan, appearing for CBI, informed the court that investigation was complete in all 16 cases and that in the Muzaffarpur case, a Delhi court in January 2020 convicted 19 persons. Brajesh Thakur, the prime accused and the owner of NGO Sewa Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti that operated the Balika Grih in Muzaffarpur, was sentenced to life for sexual abuse and the rape of 34 minor girls.
The petitioner informed the court that the role of DMs was crucial as per the provision of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 that empowers them to receive quarterly reports from child welfare committees and conduct inspection of shelter homes once every quarter.
“Recommendation of CBI to initiate departmental proceedings, upon conclusion of investigation, is indicative of acts of omission and commission by these officers,” the petitioner said, adding, “The respondent state and its officers by their acts of omission and commission are not effectively implementing the provisions of JJ Act and are failing in their duty to check the sexual abuse of hapless and destitute inmates of state-run shelter homes.”
ASG Divan requested the court to disband the investigation team as its task was over and also sought repatriation of a deputy inspector general of police (DIG)-rank officer heading the team who was due for promotion. Amicus curiae advocate Aparna Bhat, however, said at this stage, the CBI team that investigated the case should not be disbanded as accused in Muzaffarpur case have filed appeals in the Delhi high court.
The bench agreed to consider the issue of disbanding the CBI team on the next date of hearing while allowing the repatriation of DIG Abhay Singh to his parent cadre.
