CHENNAI : After observing that no effective steps have been taken to address problems of child missing/trafficking and exploitation, a division bench of the Madras High Court has said it is high time that the departments concerned bestow their best attention and show some sensitivity, especially by considering the anxiety of parents/guardians whose children are missing and untraceable for a long time.A bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and N Seshasayee, which made the observation while passing further interim orders on a PIL from Exnora International, also opined that disbursal of the fund created under the head ‘Juvenile Justice (JJ) Fund’ is also very much on the lower side and the disbursal mechanism also is not functioning properly.
The bench then directed the Director-General of Police and State Home secretary to file details of cases of child missing and exploitation of children registered by Anti-Child Trafficking units (ACTUs) and by regular police, progress of investigation, arrests made and steps taken to augment JJ fund. The court posted the matter for further hearing on August 24.The petition from Exnora highlighted kidnapping of two children, who were sleeping on the pavement with their parents in Chennai in 2016.
When the matter came up on July 16 last, the bench directed the authorities concerned to file reports with regard to compliance with JJ Act with supporting documents and material and the action taken report pertaining to creation of 43 ACTUs in the State. When the matter came up today, the Public Prosecutor filed two separate reports, one from the Deputy Secretary, Home and the other from the Assistant Inspector-General of Police, L & O. They stated that 43 ACTUs were formed with an inspector, SI, head-constable and two constables each by a GO dated March 2, 2017.
A corpus fund of Rs 25 lakh, under section 105 of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 for the welfare and rehabilitation of children dealt under this law, was also created by another GO dated November 28, 2016 by the Social Welfare department. Nearly `73 lakh had been disbursed to the parents of 39 untraced missing children, `10,000 each were given to two victims of sexual abuse to meet their immediate medical needs on April 4 last from the JJ Fund.
Last year, 87 per cent of missing children were traced and up to June this year, 75 per cent of the reported cases of missing boys and girls were solved and the children were restored to their guardians. Totally, 236 cases were registered under the JJ Act. Up to June this year, 45 cases had been registered.As many as 3,039 children in need of care and protection, including 446 juvenile girls, were rescued from public places during 2017. It was 1,608, including 214 girls, who were rescued till June end this year.
Ninety two child labourers, including five girls, were rescued last year. The figure was 58 up till June this year. As of now `33.53 lakh is available in JJ Fund, the report concluded.
DVAC granted more time to file further status report on plaint against minister
Chennai: The Madras High Court has granted more time to the DVAC to file a further status report on the complaint lodged against Dairy Development Minister K T Rajhendra Bhalaji that he had accumulated wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income. After going through the status report of the DVAC filed by Advocate General Vijay Narayan, a division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and R Hemalatha directed the Registrar to keep the report under his custody.
Following a submission by the AG that some more witnesses are to be enquired with and hence more time is needed to file the report, the bench granted time till October 8. On June 12, the bench said that the DVAC had not properly done the preliminary enquiry into the complaint of one Mahendran Balaji and ordered a fresh enquiry from the check period of 1996. Accordingly, the status report was filed on Friday.
Court orders notice to State govt on Chennai-Salem Green Corridor
Chennai: The High Court on Friday directed the State government to file its response within four weeks to a petition seeking compensation for alleged excesses committed by police on farmers who are opposing the acquisition of lands for the Chennai-Salem Expressway. The petition was filed by advocate P Rathinam and came up for hearing before the first bench of Acting Chief Justice Huluvadi G Ramesh and Justice SS Sundar.
Petitioner alleged that those who were opposing acquisition of lands were manhandled by police. He sought adequate compensation for the ‘physical and mental agony’ caused due to police excesses. Petitioner also wanted the court to constitute an inquiry committee, headed by a retired judge of the high court, to probe the matter. He also pleaded the court to constitute an expert committee to analyse the impact of the project.