New Delhi: Warning against gangs involved in child trafficking, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said parents across the country should remain extremely vigilant and careful with their children and if any newborn infant is trafficked from any hospital, the immediate action against the hospital should be suspension of the licence to run the hospital over.
A bench comprising justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, citing one of the accused, who had four minor daughters, in a matter, said it is unfortunate what the evil men do to have a male child and they do not hesitate to purchase a trafficked child at the cost of causing pain, agony and immense trauma to the biological parents of the trafficked child.
The bench also issued a set of guidelines for all state governments to prevent child trafficking and offences arising out of it. The apex court said that any laxity in implementing the directions would be taken seriously and be treated as contempt of court. The bench expressed its anguish over the bail granted to a group of accused in child trafficking cases by the Allahabad High Court.
Justice Pardiwala, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench, said considering the serious nature of the crime and the modus operandi adopted by the accused persons, the high court should not have exercised its discretion in favour of the accused persons. He said the high court dealt with all the bail applications in a very callous manner.
“The outcome of this callous approach on the part of the High Court has ultimately paved the way for many accused persons to abscond and thereby put the trial in jeopardy. These accused persons are a big threat to the society wherever they are in the country”, said Justice Pardiwala, in the 95-page judgment. The bench said the accused have exhibited a tendency of committing a particular nature of crime, namely, child trafficking.
The bench said the least that was expected of the high court while granting bail to all the accused persons was to impose a condition on each of them to mark their presence once in a week at the concerned police station so that the police can keep a check over the movements of all the accused persons. “We are thoroughly disappointed with the manner in which the State handled the situation. Why did the State not do anything for all this period of time? Why did the State not deem fit to challenge the orders of bail passed by the High Court? The State unfortunately has exhibited no seriousness worth the name”, said Justice Pardiwala.
Justice Pardiwala said, “We want to convey a message to one & all, particularly the parents across the country that they should remain extremely vigilant and careful with their children. A slight carelessness or negligence or laxity on their part may prove to be extremely costly”.
Justice Pardiwala said the pain and agony which any parents may have to face when the child dies is different from the pain and agony that the parents may have to face when they lose their children to such gangs engaged in trafficking.
“When the child dies, the parents may with passage of time resign to the will of the Almighty but when the child is lost and not found they have to suffer the pain and agony for the rest of their life. It is worse than death. Therefore, we humbly urge one and all to remain very cautious and vigilant”, said Justice Pardiwala.
He said if any newborn infant is trafficked from any hospital, the immediate action against the hospital should be suspension of licence to run the hospital over and above other actions in accordance with law. “When any lady comes to deliver her baby in any hospital, it is the responsibility of the administration of the hospital to protect the newborn infant in all respects”, said Justice Pardiwala.
The bench cancelled the bail granted to the accused and directed them to surrender before the trial court. The bench also directed the Varanasi court to complete the trial in six months, by conducting the proceedings on a day-to-day basis.
The apex court observed that the individual liberty is restricted by larger social interest and its deprivation must have due sanction of law. It said in an orderly society an individual is expected to live with dignity having respect for law and also giving due respect to others' rights.
Justice Pardiwala said the sacrosanctity of liberty is paramount in a civilised society but, in a democratic body polity which is wedded to the rule of law an individual is expected to grow within the social restrictions sanctioned by law.
The bench said the cry of the collective for justice, its desire for peace and harmony and its necessity for security cannot be allowed to be trivialised. “Laws are made for their obedience so that every member of the society lives peacefully in a society to achieve his individual as well as social interest….”, said the bench.
The bench granted two months’ time to Uttar Pradesh police to trace out all those accused persons who have absconded and are on the run. “We direct the State Government to ensure that the trafficked children are admitted in schools in accordance with the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 and continue to provide support for their education”, said the bench.
The apex court directed all the state governments’ across the country to look into the report of BIRD (Bharatiya Institute of Research and Development), New Delhi, on human trafficking. "All the state governments' are directed to study the entire report and start implementing each of the recommendations by working out appropriate modalities in that regard," the bench said.
Justice Pardiwala said: “We direct all the high courts' across the country to call for the necessary information as regards the status of the pending trials relating to child trafficking. Once each of the high courts' is able to collect the necessary data as regards the status of the trials, a circular thereafter shall be issued on its administrative side to all the concerned trial courts to complete the trials within a period of six months from the date of the circular and if need be, by conducting the trials on day-to-day basis”.
The bench said each of the high courts’ shall thereafter forward a report to this court as regards the compliance of the directions contained in the circular. “Non-compliance of our directions or any laxity of any nature in that regard on the part of any of the authorities shall be viewed very strictly and if need be, they shall be proceeded for contempt”, said the bench.
