In a major development, addressing the issue of organized child trafficking in India, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to gather data on the subject and file a comprehensive report before the Court.

The direction was issued by a Bench comprising Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice SVN Bhatti while hearing a case involving a child trafficking racket spread across multiple states.

The Court has ordered the MHA to provide specific details in its report, including:

(i) How many child missing cases have been registered in each District/State since 2020 i.e. when the Cri-MAC was launched?

(ii) From the registered cases, how many children have been recovered within the stipulated period of 4 months and how many are yet to be recovered?

(iii) Whether a functional Anti-Human Trafficking Units in each district is established and if so (number of cases entrusted to the respective Anti-Human Trafficking Units).

(iv) The powers conferred on the Anti-Human Trafficking Units under applicable laws.

(v) The number of pending prosecutions relating to child trafficking cases in each District/State.

(vi) Year-wise data be provided including the steps the respective States intend to take in delayed cases of investigation or non recovery of the missing child.

The directions were issued as the Court quashed several High Court orders that had granted bail to six individuals accused of being part of a child trafficking racket. These individuals were involved in the kidnapping of a 4-year-old boy, and the racket operated across the states of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan.

The Court criticized the High Court for granting bail without fully considering the gravity of the charges. It noted that the accused could face a minimum sentence of 14 years, with the possibility of life imprisonment if convicted. "The High Court, without considering the relevant parameters in such serious cases, granted bail to the accused," the Court remarked in its September 24 order.

The Court allowed the plea challenging the bail orders and set them aside, noting that the nature of the crime and the potential involvement of the accused in an organized child trafficking racket required stricter scrutiny.

In the larger context of organized child trafficking, the Court acknowledged a plea filed by the same petitioner, which highlighted the dire situation of children targeted by trafficking networks.

The petitioner submitted that traffickers often identify vulnerable children, particularly from impoverished families, and sell them for exploitation. The plea also underscored that organized trafficking networks operate across several states, increasing the difficulty of tracking and rescuing victims.

The Court took note of an affidavit filed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on September 23, which detailed advisories issued to all states and union territories on three key aspects of trafficking—prevention, protection, and prosecution.

Additionally, the Court acknowledged the Central government's efforts to provide financial assistance for upgrading or establishing Anti-Human Trafficking Units in all districts nationwide.

"Special financial assistance is also provided by the Union Government to the States/Union Territories, for upgrading/setting up of the Anti-Human Trafficking Units covering all the districts in the country. Coordination with all the stakeholders on regular basis is also mentioned in the counter affidavit. In fact, a national level communication platform called the Crime Multi Agency Centre (Cri-MAC) was launched in the year 2020 which facilitates dissemination of information, inter alia, about child trafficking crimes, on real time basis," the Court said.

After noting that at this point in time, the results of the coordinated efforts made by the Union Home Ministry with the States and the Union Territories are not before the Bench, the Court passed the aforementioned order.

Accordingly, the Court ordered, "The learned ASG will file a report as above in six weeks. List after six weeks."

Cause Title: Sanjay v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Anr.

Appearance:-

Petitioner: Senior Advocate Aparna Bhat, Advocates Rajkumari Banju Mayank Sapra, Karishma Maria, Lalima Das

Respondent: Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, Advocates Arvind Kumar Sharma, Swati Ghildiyal, Vishnu Shankar Jain, Saurabh Pandey, Mani Munjal, Garvesh Kabra, Abhishek Jaju, Pooja Kabra, Sujata Upadhyay, Avanish Deshpande, Sunny Choudhary, Sarad Kumar Singhania. Alpana Sharma

Click here to read/download the Order



Justice Hrishikesh RoyJustice SVN Bhatti

Sukriti Mishra