New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday laid down guidelines to be followed to prevent child trafficking. As per the apex court's guidelines, if a newborn goes missing from a hospital, its license should be cancelled. The verdict was passed by a bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan while hearing a plea challenging bail to the accused in a child trafficking case.
"If any newborn is trafficked from a hospital, the first step should be to suspend the license of such hospitals. If any lady comes to deliver a child to the hospital and the baby is stolen, the first step is suspension of license," the Supreme Court bench said in its order.
Pulling up the Allahabad High Court, the Supreme Court bench the applications were "callously" dealt with.
"The High Court dealt with bail applications callously and it led to many accused to abscond. These accused pose serious threat to society. Least which was required from High Court while granting bail was to impose a condition to mark presence in police station every week. The police lost track of all accused persons," the bench stated as quoted by the Bar and Bench.
The top court also blasted the Uttar Pradesh government over the matter. "It appears the accused was longing for a son and then got a son got for ₹4 lakh. If you desire a son.. you cannot go for a trafficked child. He knew that the baby was stolen," the Court stated.
The bench also directed High Courts across India to issue directions to lower courts for completing trials in child trafficking cases within six months.
"State governments shall take a look at the detailed recommendations by us and study the report which was submitted by Bhartiya Institute and implement the same at the earliest. High Courts across the country are directed to call for status of pending trial in child trafficking cases. Then directions shall be issued to complete trial in 6 months and also conduct day to day trial," the Court ordered as quoted by the media house.
The bench further added that any lapse in the implementation of the directions would be treated as contempt of court.
Notably, around 2,000 cases of trafficking are reported in India every year.
