SC asks Centre to set up organised agency to probe child trafficking

In a bid to check inter-state and international trafficking of girls for sexual exploitation, the Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to operationalise by December 1, 2016, the Organised Crimes Investigating Agency (OCIA) for probing human trafficking cases across the nation.

A Bench, headed by Justice AR Dave, also asked the Ministry of Women and Child Development, which has set up a panel headed by its Secretary on November 16 to complete the consultation process in six months on the issue of making a comprehensible legislation to deal with issues like prevention, rescue and rehabilitation of the victims of trafficking for commercial and sexual exploitation.

The Ministry had earlier favoured a comprehensive legislation on trafficking and said that the consultation and other initial process would begin soon. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had simultaneously favoured setting up of the Organised Crimes Investigating Agency (OCIA) for probing cases of human trafficking.

The Bench then disposed of the 2004 PIL and asked that MHA to ensure that the OCIA is in place by December 1, next year.

Earlier, it had asked all states and UTs to provide the data of FIRs, registered between 2014 to September 30, 2015 with regard to girl child trafficking under certain provisions of the IPC and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) within a fortnight.