New Delhi [India], August 11 : The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Central government to submit a detailed report on measures taken to curb child trafficking, which it said is rampant in Delhi.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan Court also expressed displeasure over the grant of bail to accused in child trafficking cases, saying it would examine those orders.
"File a detailed report on how bail was granted and how the state opposed the bail. If need be, we will take suo motu cognisance of those bail orders," Justice Pardiwala said after the bench was informed by the counsel Delhi government that the alleged kingpin was granted bail.
The counsel said, "Two more children, who their parents sold, had recently been recovered, and that the alleged kingpin had been arrested. However, she was subsequently granted bail."
The apex court listed the matter on August 18 for further hearing.
The top court was hearing a case raising concerns about a major inter-state child trafficking racket, in which multiple accused allegedly kidnapped children and sold them across states, including Rajasthan, Bihar, and Jharkhand, to childless couples.
Earlier, the top court had expressed serious concern over the issue of child trafficking in the country and said the situation is getting worse.
The apex court took cognisance of a media report where police busted a gang involved in abducting and selling newborn babies in Delhi.
The news report stated that the gang operated across state borders, mainly targeting remote villages and hospitals in Rajasthan and Gujarat. The newborns, some barely a few days old, were taken and kept in slum areas around Delhi before being sold to childless couples for anything between Rs 5 and Rs 10 lakh, it had said.
On April 15, the apex court delivered a judgement and said that if any newborn infant is trafficked from any hospital, immediate action against the hospital should be suspension of the hospital's license to run the hospital.
It had also issued a set of guidelines for all the states to prevent child trafficking and offences arising out of it.
To curb the trafficking of newborns, it had issued a slew of guidelines saying that any laxity in implementing the directions would be taken seriously and be treated as contempt of court.
It had expressed serious concern over the bail granted to a group of accused in child trafficking cases by the Allahabad High Court and cancelled their bail.