Ascertain if any nationwide network is behind children going missing: SC to Centre
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to ascertain whether there is a nationwide network or state-specific group behind the incidents of children going missing from different parts of the country. A bench of Justices B V Nagrathna and Ujjal Bhuyan emphasised the need to ascertain whether there is a pattern behind these incidents or if they are random ones, and asked the Centre to collate data from all states. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, said some states have given their data on missing children and that of prosecution, but around a dozen states have not given their data. She submitted that the analysis can be made only after the Union government gets complete data. "We want to know whether there is a nationwide network or state-specific group behind these incidents where children go missing. Is it a pattern or just a random incident?" the bench told Bhati.
The top court suggested to Bhati that children who have been rescued should be interviewed to ascertain who is responsible for such incidents. The bench was also critical of the states that have not furnished the data, and said it may pass harsh orders if needed. Senior advocate Aparna Bhatt said the Centre has taken the initiative and direction be issued to all states to furnish the data. The bench was hearing a PIL filed by an NGO, ‘Guria Swayam Sevi Sansthan’, that highlighted the rising number of children who remain untraced across several states. On December 9, the top court directed the Centre to furnish six years of nationwide data on missing children and to appoint a dedicated officer in the Union home ministry for ensuring effective coordination with states and Union Territories in compiling such data.
The top court had earlier directed all states and Union Territories to depute dedicated nodal officers to oversee cases of missing children and to ensure that such details are promptly uploaded in a portal run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. On November 18, last year, the top court voiced its concern over a news report that claimed that a child goes missing in the country every eight minutes, and described it as a serious issue. It had said the adoption process in the country is complicated and asked the Centre to streamline the mechanism. The top court remarked that as the adoption process is rigorous, it is bound to be flouted, and people go for illegal means to have children. It had earlier asked the Centre to create a dedicated online portal under the aegis of the Home Ministry to trace missing children and investigate such cases. The bench had underlined the lack of coordination among police authorities entrusted with the job of tracing missing children in states and Union territories in the country. It had said that the portal could have a dedicated officer from each state who could be in charge of missing complaints, besides disseminating information. The NGO had moved the top court and highlighted unresolved cases of kidnapping or missing children, besides the actions required to be taken on the basis of information available with the missing/found portal monitored by the Government of India. The petition illustrated its argument with five cases registered in Uttar Pradesh last year in which minor boys and girls were kidnapped and trafficked through a network of middlemen to states like Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
