Bachpan Bachao Andolan Chairman vs. Union Of India And Ors. Ministry Of Home Affairs Secretary

ºR 1

ITEM NO.303 COURT NO.9 SECTION PIL(W)

S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s).75/2012

BACHPAN BACHAO ANDOLAN Petitioner(s)

VERSUS

UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s)

(With appln.(s) for exemption from filing O.T. and exemption from personal appearance and permission to file additional documents and office report)

Date : 11/09/2015 This petition was called on for hearing today.

CORAM :

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MADAN B. LOKUR HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE UDAY UMESH LALIT

For Petitioner(s)	Mr.<br>H.S. Phoolka, Sr. Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Jagjit Singh Chhabra, AOR<br>Mr.<br>Bhuwan Ribhu, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Anand Kumar, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Virender Verma, Adv.
For Respondent(s)<br>Union of India	Mr. Maninder Singh, ASG<br>Ms. V. Mohana, Sr. Adv.<br>Mr. S. Wasim A. Qadri, Adv.<br>Ms. Rekha Pandey, Adv.<br>Ms. Sunita Sharma, Adv.<br>Ms. Gunwant Dara, Adv.<br>Mrs. Anil Katiyar, Adv.<br>Mr. D.S. Mahra, AOR<br>Ms. Sushma Suri, Adv.<br>Mr. P.K. Dey, Adv.<br>Mr. T.A.Khan, Adv.<br>Mr. B.V. Balaram Das, Adv.
NHRC<br>Signature Not Verified	Ms. Shobha, AOR
Digitally signed by<br>Sanjay Kumar<br>Date: 2015.09.14	Ms. Akanksha Kaushik, Adv.
NALSA<br>17:08:40 IST<br>Reason:	Ms. Anitha Shenoy, AOR
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For States of<br>Andhra Pradesh	Ms. Prerna Singh, Adv.<br>Mr. Guntur Prabhakar, Adv.
Arunachal Pradesh	Mr. Anil Shrivastav, AOR<br>Mr. Rituraj Biswas, Adv.

Assam Mr. Riku Sarma, Adv.

	Mr.<br>Navnit Kumar, Adv.<br>Ms.<br>Deepika Ghatowar, Adv.<br>for<br>M/s Corporate Law Group
Bihar	Mr. Gopal Singh, AOR<br>Mr. Manish Kumar, Adv.
Chhattisgarh	Mr.<br>C.D. Singh, AAG<br>Mr.<br>Darpan Bhuyan, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Aniruddh P. Mayee, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Apoorv Kurup, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Parapan Bhuyan, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Charudatta Mahindrakar, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>A. Selvin Raja, Adv.
Gujarat	Mr.<br>Tushar Mehta, ASG<br>Ms.<br>Hemantika Wahi, AOR<br>Ms.<br>Jesal Wahi, Adv.<br>Ms.<br>Vinakshi Kadan, Adv.
H.P.	Mr. Suryanaryana Singh, Sr. AAG<br>Ms. Pragati Neekhra, AOR
Jharkhand	Mr.<br>Krishnanand Pandey, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Amrendra Kr. Choubey, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Anil K. Jha, AOR<br>Mr.<br>R.K. Ojha, Adv.
Karnataka	Mr. V.N. Raghupathy, AOR
Kerala	Ms. Liz Mathew, AOR
Maharashtra	Mr. Amol N. Suryawanshi, Adv.<br>Mr. Nishant R. Katneshwarkar, Adv.
Manipur	Mr. Sapam Biswajit Meitei, Adv.<br>Mr. Ashok Kumar Singh, AOR<br>Ms. B. Khushbansi, Adv.
Meghalaya	Mr. Ranjan Mukherjee, AOR<br>Mr. Subhro Sanyal, Adv.<br>3
Mizoram	Mr. K.N. Madhusoodhanan, Adv.<br>Mr. T. G. Narayanan Nair, AOR
Nagaland	Mrs. K. Enatoli Sema, Adv.<br>Mr. Edward Belho, Adv.<br>Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv.<br>Mr. Balaji Srinivasan, AOR
Odisha	Mr. Shibashish Misra, Adv.<br>Mr. Ashish Kumar Sinha, Adv.<br>Mr. Sibo Sankar Mishra, AOR
Punjab	Mr.<br>Ajay Bansal, AAG<br>Mr.<br>Thomas Franklin Caesar, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Vijendra Kasana, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Gaurav Yadava, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Kuldip Singh, AOR
Rajasthan	Mr.<br>S.S. Shamshery, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Amit Sharma, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Ishu Prayash, Adv.<br>Ms.<br>Ruchi Kohli, Adv.

Sikkim	Ms. Aruna Mathur, Adv.<br>Mr. Yusuf Khan, Adv.<br>for M/s Arputham Aruna & Co.
Tripura	Mr. Gopal Singh, AOR<br>Mr. Rituraj Biswas, Adv.<br>Ms. Varsha Poddar, Adv.
Telangana	M/s. Palwai Venkat Law Associates
Uttar Pradesh	Mr. Gaurav Bhatia, Adv.<br>Mr. Utkarsh Sharma, Adv.<br>Ms. Pragati Neekhra, Adv.
Uttarakhand	Ms. Rachana Srivastava, AOR<br>Ms. Garima Srivastava, Adv.
West Bengal	Mr. Anip Sachthey, AOR
A&N Islands	Mr. K.V. Jagdishvaran, Adv.<br>Mrs. G. Indira, AOR
Chandigarh	Ms.<br>Udita Singh, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Ravi Prakash, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Aditya Dewan, Adv.<br>Mr.<br>Chandra Prakash, AOR	4

Puducherry Mr.V.G. Pragasam, AOR Mr. Prabu Ramasubramanian, Adv. Mr. B. Krishna Prasad, AOR Mr. Dharmendra Kumar Sinha, AOR Mr. D. Mahesh Babu, AOR Mr. G. N. Reddy, AOR Mr. Irshad Ahmad, AOR Mr. Krishnanand Pandeya, AOR Ms. Shalini Chandra, AOR Mr. Sunil Fernandes, AOR Mr. Avijit Bhattacharjee, AOR Ms. A. Subhashini, Adv. UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R We have gone through the affidavit filed by Mr. Ashi

Kapoor on 8th September, 2015. We have also heard learned Additional Solicitor General and learned counsel for the petitioner.

In the affidavit, it is admitted that there is a discrepancy in the figures that are available with the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) and National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), but the process of reconciliation is going on. It is stated that the reconciliation has been finalized in respect of eleven States and steps are being taken to reconcile the figures 5

with regard to other States and Union Territories on missing and recovered children. It is expected that the reconciliation of figures will take place within about six weeks.

It is further stated that the process for integration of the website "trackthemissingchild" with "khoya-paya" is going on and consultations have already been held with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and the process is expected to be completed very soon.

It is also stated that a meeting was held on 14 th August, 2015 and discussions held with regard to various issues, including a social audit Standard Operating Procedures on missing children, Individualized Child Care Plan etc.

The next meeting is expected to be held on 29th September, 2015. The MWCD should make all efforts to finalize the requirements and the discussions at the earliest.

It has been brought to the notice of learned Additional Solicitor General that no appointments have been made to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in spite of various orders passed by this Court from time to time, particularly from January, 2015 onwards. Eight long months have passed by in this regard and we have been extremely indulgent and patient 6

in this regard, but the MWCD does not seem to be taking

any interest in filling up the vacancies. Learned Additional Solicitor General says that the matter is under active consideration, something that we have been hearing at least from February, 2015. For this unexplained delay, we impose costs of Rs.25,000/- on the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. This amount be deposited with the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee within four weeks from today to be utilized for issues pertaining to juvenile justice.

Learned Additional Solicitor General has also stated that action is being taken on 'Operation Smile' and 'Operation Muskaan'. It has been brought to our notice that there has been some criticism about the manner in which both these Operations are being conducted in the sense that sometimes street children are being taken away from their parents. Learned Additional Solicitor General says that he will personally take up the matter with the Ministry of Home Affairs and ensure that such complaints do not occur and that 'Operation Smile' and 'Operation Muskaan' are implemented in proper spirit and not just to produce numbers.

We have brought to the notice of learned Additional Advocate General for the State of Uttar Pradesh the contents of paragraph 10 of the affidavit filed by the 7

MWCD. He says that he will get back to us on 18 th September, 2015. List the matter for 18 th September, 2015 only for this purpose.

For the response of the Union of India, list the matter on 6th November, 2015.

The Registry should not accept any affidavits other than those filed by the Union of India, or under our specific directions.

(SANJAY KUMAR-I) (JASWINDER KAUR)

COURT MASTER COURT MASTER