By IANS,
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Friday slammed the city police for not registering a case under the appropriate sections of law against placement agencies for illegal trafficking of youth on the pretext of providing them jobs abroad.
“Have you taken legal advice before registering a very serious case like this?” the division bench of Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Sanjeev Khanna asked the police.
Deputy Commissioner of Police North-west N.S. Bundela appeared for the police in the court.
Bundela said they had taken legal advice before registering an FIR on the charges of criminal breach of trust against the placement agencies for illegal trafficking of young boys and girls on the pretext of providing them jobs as domestic help.
The reply didn’t satisfy the bench. The court asked Delhi Police chief Y.S. Dadawal to appear in the court Jan 28. However, the order was later changed and the police was asked to file a statement within a week.
The court was hearing a public interest petition filed by an NGO, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, alleging that placement agencies were responsible for the illegal trafficking of girls and sought a direction to the state government for compulsory registration of all such agencies.
According to the NGO, early this month about 35 girls and four boys were rescued from various placement agencies in the national capital.
The court expressed its displeasure after the petitioner’s counsel H.S. Phoolka said the case also attracted various other sections of IPC like the charges of trafficking, kidnapping and exploitation of juveniles. However, the police registered the case under section 406 of IPC (criminal breach of trust) at Saraswati Vihar police station.
“This is a deliberate attempt on the part of the police to let a culprit go scot-free,” Phoolka said.
The court had Thursday asked the city police to give its reply on a matter related to the growing number of cases of trafficking in children who are promised jobs as domestic help.