SC asks Goa, 6 others for report on trafficking of minors

SC asks Goa, 6 others for report on trafficking of minors
PTI, Navhind Times Goa


New Delhi, July 23: Expressing serious concern over growing incidents of trafficking of minor girls and women in the country, the Supreme Court has sought response from the seven worst affected states on how to tackle the menace.

Hearing a public interest litigation filed by a NGO, ‘Shakti Vahini’, a bench of Mr Justice K G Balakrishnan, Mr Justice Tarun Chatterjee and Mr Justice D K Jain asked these states to respond to the reports prepared by National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Women which depicted a grim scenario in the seven states.

According to NHRC and NCW reports incidents of trafficking in girls/women are very high in the states of West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The bench asked the chief secretaries of these states to articulate their response within six weeks detailing their strategies to check it.

If the states did not file their replies within the stipulated time-frame, the court would pass “appropriate orders”.The petitioner NGO alleged that the trafficking in girls and women amounted to violation of their human rights and fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

In fact the states have already filed a general reply to the petition but the court wanted them to respond to the specific findings of the NHRC and NCW reports on the issue.The ‘amicus curiae’ submitted that the problem had assumed serious proportions and the states needed to address it in the light of the reports prepared by the NHRC and the NCW which indicated latest trend of trafficking in the country.

The court observed that without getting response from the states, it will be difficult to decide the PIL