NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed the Allahabad high court order granting bail to three accused in child trafficking case and slammed both the high court and the Uttar Pradesh government for negligent approach.
The apex court in its order, also laid down a set of guidelines for all the States to ensure the prevention of child trafficking and offences arising from it, after noting that any laxity in implementing the directions would be taken seriously and treated as contempt of court
The top court issued the directions after hearing a plea filed by the mother of a child, who had moved the SC against the anticipatory bail granted by the Allahabad HC to one of the accused in a child trafficking case from Uttar Pradesh.
The case involved a stolen baby being delivered — by the accused — to a couple who were desirous of having a son.
"We want to convey a message to one and all, more particularly the parents across the country, that they should remain extremely vigilant and careful with their children.
A slight carelessness, negligence, or laxity on their part may prove to be extremely costly. The pain and agony which any parents may face when their child dies is different from the pain and agony they may experience when they lose their children to such gangs engaged in trafficking," the top court said in the ruling.
The bench in its order said that when a child dies, the parents may, with the passage of time, resign to the will of the almighty. But when the child is lost and not found, they have to suffer the pain and agony for the rest of their lives. It is worse than death. Therefore, we humbly urge everyone to remain very cautious and vigilant.
A two-judge Bench of the apex court, headed by Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan, in its order on Tuesday, directed all the state HCs to issue necessary directions to lower courts to complete trials in child trafficking cases within six months.
The top court, in its order, directed all state governments to review our detailed recommendations (orders) and study the report submitted by the Bhartiya Institute and implement the same at the earliest. "High Courts across the country are directed to call for the status of pending trials in child trafficking cases. Directions shall then be issued to complete the trials in 6 months and also conduct day-to-day trials," the SC said in the order.
The court added that if any newborn infant is trafficked from any hospital, the immediate action against the hospital should be the suspension of its license to operate, in addition to other actions in accordance with the law. When any woman comes to deliver her baby in a hospital, it is the responsibility of the hospital administration to protect the newborn infant in all respects.
These directions of the top court assume significance as offences involving child trafficking cases take years to come to a logical conclusion, and the guidelines will try to resolve the pending cases in a time-bound manner.
During the course of the anticipatory bail plea hearing of the accused on Tuesday, the apex court slammed both the Allahabad High Court and the Uttar Pradesh government for the manner in which they dealt with the matter. "The High Court dealt with bail applications callously, leading to many accused absconding. These accused pose a serious threat to society," the bench noted in its order.
The top court went on to question the seriousness of the UP government and added, "We were thoroughly disappointed with how the State of UP handled this case and why no appeal was made."
The SC also slammed the Allahabad HC for granting conditional bail to some accused in the case and termed the order of the HC as least required. "The police lost track of all accused persons. We are thoroughly disappointed with how the State of UP handled this case," the apex court observed.
The bench also questioned the UP government as to why no appeal was made by it before this court. "There was no seriousness being shown in this case," the bench warned the UP government.