The Supreme Court has given the home ministry time till October 14 to present its view on setting up a common national portal to ensure a coordinated fight against child trafficking and kidnapping.
A bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice R. Mahadevan passed the order while dealing with a petition filed by the Guria Swayam Sevi Sansthan, represented by senior advocate Aparna Bhatt. The petition highlighted rampant inter-state and cross-border kidnapping and trafficking of children by organised camps.
After hearing Bhatt and additional solicitor-general Aishwarya Bhatti, the bench noted: “A child trafficked from one state could be from persons who are residents of another state and the trafficking could occur from a third state in another zone and sometimes to overseas destinations.”
The court ordered: “To have a coordinated effort in tracing missing children and to aid and assist the investigation of such offences, we find that it is just and proper to have a common portal, which is under supervision and control of the
home ministry.
“For that purpose, a dedicated officer from each state could be put in charge of registering complaints on that common portal with regard to missing children and also for the purpose of disseminating information on the said portal which could be perceived by all nodal officers from each of the states as well as Union Territories and in coordination with the dedicated officer in the home ministry….”
The matter is now listed for October 14.