New Delhi, October 4
The Supreme Court has asked the government to respond to a plea seeking victim protection protocol for the rescue and rehabilitation of sexually exploited women and children.
A Bench led by the Chief Justice of India has asked the Centre to respond by October 31 to the plea filed by “Prajwala” after advocate Aparna Bhat submitted on behalf of the NGO that the apex court had in 2015 ordered setting up of the Organised Crime Investigative Agency (OCIA) to deal with the trafficking of women and children.
The NGO sought to highlight the fact that due to “complete breakdown of all systems owing to the pandemic”, trafficking had become rampant and rescue and rehabilitation work had been affected.
It urged the court to direct the Centre to forthwith comply with the directions issued in 2015, and file a status report on the issue. The NGO submitted that a new comprehensive law was needed as trafficking had become a multi-million dollar business and traffickers were constantly evolving newer methods of perpetrating the crime.
While disposing of a PIL filed in 2004, the top court had in its 2015 order had asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to set up the OCIA and expressed the hope that the agency would be set up by September 30, 2016, and would be made functional by December 1, 2016.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development was expected to set up a committee to prepare a legislation to deal with trafficking. The NGO pointed out that the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018, lapsed as it was not presented in the Rajya Sabha.
Hit by pandemic
Due to complete breakdown of all systems owing to the pandemic, trafficking has become rampant and rescue and rehabilitation work had been affected. Petitioner
