Orders from Patna High Court on Child Trafficking

Summary for the Order on Trafficking PIL in Patna High Court

Patna High Court bench comprising Chief Justice Rekha M. Doshit and Justice Jyoti Saran on 7th Sept 2010 gave an Order on the PIL on Child Trafficking argued and facilitated by HRLN Patna Advocate Vikash Kumar Pankaj for Petitioners Bachpan Bachao Andolan directed the State respondents to convey it to the concerned officers of the State working on the issue of Trafficking about the strengthening the measures. The order also stated that “the officers and the committee vested with power to act for the welfare of the children will be given appropriate training in respect of their duties and in the manner in which duties are required to be performed. The Order also assures to ensure coordination among the different departments of the State like the Social Welfare Department, Police Department, Labour Department etc.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Rekha M. Doshit and Justice Jyoti Saran directed the state government to file its reply within three weeks earlier in July 2010, asking what steps it had taken to stop child trafficking for forced labour and prostitution from the state. The petitioner, Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), an NGO working in the field of protection of human rights and child labour, submitted that the state government had chalked out a plan of action on June 16, 2009, to stop the abuse of child labour. However, the plan was never implemented despite getting cabinet approval.
To buttress its point, the petitioner cited Census 2001, according to which Bihar accounted for 8.9 per cent of child labourers in India in the age group of 5-14 years, numbering 5.4 lakh as main workers (who work for six months or more in a year) in the same age group. Around 5.8 lakh worked as marginal workers (who work for less than six months in a year). Counsel for state A. Amanullah submitted before the court that the state government was ready to do all things possible raised in the PIL.

For copy of order and details contact:

Email: antitrafficking@hrln.org, patna@hrln.org

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