In a move to curb trafficking of children and women, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed all States and Union territories to give suggestions on a report prepared by the National legal Services Authority (NAlSA) suggesting means for effective prevention, rescue and rehabilitation of trafficked victims.
A Bench headed by Justice Anil R Dave, which commissioned NAlSA to give suggestions on legal reforms and relief and rehabilitation measures for ensuring effective checks and balances to curb trafficking, directed the Centre to coordinate a meeting with concerned Secretaries of all States/UTs. The meeting is scheduled to be held on September 3 pursuant to which Centre will file a detailed action plan in Court on October 13.
The NAlSA report highlighted the gaps in legislation, ineffective inter-agency coordination between police of various states, insufficient data on traffickers and organised gangs, and chinks in the rehabilitation of victims increasing possibility of their re-trafficking as some of the areas which required urgent attention.
Three sub-panels formed by NAlSA Core Committee headed by Supreme Court judge Justice AK Sikri focused on the problem of trafficking as it exists, gaps in legislation and existing processes, and need for a standard operating protocol (SOP) on prevention, pre-rescue, rescue and rehabilitation of victims.
The Court accepted the report and was disappointed to learn that only six States had expressed interest to collect the copy of report despite all States being party to the proceedings before the Court in a PIl filed by NGO Prajwala. Additional Solicitor General NK Kaul said, "We are pretty much in agreement with the report."
For NAlSA, senior advocate Indu Malhotra said that trafficking needs to be defined as a separate crime under the head "commercial sexual exploitation" to be probed by a specialised agency.
By doing so, NAlSA believed that data about traffickers can be maintained at a single source. This can help track missing children and trafficked persons as missing kids have a direct link with trafficking.
Modi, who called up Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, also expressed sorrow at the loss of lives in the violence in Nepal and extended his condolences to the families of the deceased and the people of Nepal.