Voicing deep concern over the growing number of children going missing and remaining untraced, the Supreme Court on Thursday said it will deal with all the states one by one as it summoned the chief secretary and directors general of police of Bihar and Chhattisgarh to explain what action they are taking on the issue.
The court passed the order after senior advocate H S Phoolka, appearing for NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan, headed by Nobel Peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi, said many states have not provided data and compliance report of apex court's earlier direction on the issue.
Sending a stern warning to all states, a bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu asked them not to make a tamasha (drama) of the issue and take effective action to tackle such incidents. It said they want chief secretaries and police commissioners to explain, "How will they feel if their children go missing?”
"It really hurts us to read newspaper reports about the missing children," Justice Dattu said, adding that one woman had come to his residence on Wednesday night complaining about her missing children.
The bench said that it would not hesitate to summon top officers of the state if such incidents occur repeatedly in their jurisdiction. It also asked the chief secretary of Karnataka and Tripura to be personally present on the next date of hearing to brief it about their proposed action plan.
The bench said it is disturbing that such incidents are going on and despite several orders passed by it.
The apex court had passed a slew of directions on the NGO's PIL alleging that for over 1.7 lakh children have gone missing in the country between January 2008-2010, many of whom were kidnapped for trafficking in flesh trade and child labour. It had directed that the first information report should be registered as soon as information regarding a missing child is received by police.
Further, a photo of the child should be uploaded on the 'Child Track website', it had said, adding that there should be a juvenile welfare officer in every police station in the country.
