By IANS
Bhubaneswar : The Orissa High Court Tuesday served show cause notices to the state government and a child welfare committee for preventing five-year-old Budhia Singh from walking to Kolkata and allegedly preventing his progress in sports.
Budhia and his coach Biranchi Das had petitioned the court to stop the government and Khurda district's Child Welfare Committee (CWC), a quasi-judicial body, from obstructing the marathon kid's progress.
Justice A.S. Naidu served the notices and fixed the next date of hearing for June 21, Budhia's counsel Bibhu Prasad Tripathy told IANS.
Budhia has been at the centre of an escalating controversy over child rights and exploitation. State officials and the CWC prevented him when he was beginning to walk 500 km from Bhubaneswar to Kolkata on June 6.
The CWC had imposed a ban on Budhia's long walk saying it would have adverse effects on his health. The committee also alleged that Biranchi Das was exploiting the child for his own personal gains, which the coach denied.
The CWC, meanwhile, has served another notice to Das over the funds he allegedly collected in Budhia's name. The coach has been asked to appear before the panel June 29.
The committee has asked him to furnish details of the funds he received from the Kohiji group in Dubai in 2006. It added that Das had got money from several companies and organisations on behalf of the five-year-old.
"The funds belong to the child and he is rightfully entitled to directly receive them in his own account," the committee said.
It has asked for the details of funds received by Das since October 2005 and how they have been utilised.
"This is another deliberate attempt by the government to demoralise the kid and people who take care of him," said Das.
"So far we have received only Rs.132,000 on behalf of Budhia. But the money I have spent on his training, food, health care could be more than that. I will challenge this notice in the high court," Das added.
Das, a judo teacher adopted Budhia after paying Rs.800 to a man who had bought him from his impoverished mother.
Budhia became a celebrity last year after he earned a place in the Limca Book of World Records for his 60 km run between Puri and Bhubaneswar. Budhia runs 45 km twice a week and 20 km on other days.