New Delhi, Sept. 10: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice to the Centre, all State governments and Union Territories on a PIL seeking a uniform nationwide mechanism for dealing with cases of kidnapping and abduction of children, including time-bound investigation, coordinated procedures for tracing missing children and speedy trial of such offences.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana sought responses from the authorities within four weeks on the petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.
During the hearing, Justice Mohana pointed out that the government had already introduced several initiatives and schemes for the protection of children, including Beti Bachao, while the Supreme Court too had issued various directions on the issue.
The bench questioned whether further judicial directions were required to prescribe the manner in which investigating agencies should probe kidnapping cases.
Upadhyay, however, submitted that human trafficking had assumed different forms of exploitation over the years and child trafficking had increased significantly, with more than two lakh children going missing every year. He contended that children were being trafficked for sexual exploitation, forced labour, begging, petty crimes, child marriage and child labour, among other purposes.
The PIL has sought standard questionnaires and specialised investigation procedures for kidnapping and abduction cases and proposed that such investigations be handled by officers not below the rank of ACP/SHO.
It has also sought dedicated courts, on the lines of special courts dealing with cases against MPs and MLAs, for disposal of kidnapping and abduction cases within a year.
The petitioner alleged that delays in registration of FIRs and investigation of complaints concerning missing children impede their recovery and expose them to the risk of trafficking and other forms of exploitat
Pramod kumar is a Senior Journalist, Covering Supreem Court of India
