22 January 2010, New Delhi: In a landmark order given by the Supreme Court of India today on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by child rights group Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) on child labour and trafficking of children for forced labour, the court directed the government to ensure the implementation of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 (henceforth JJ Act).

JJ Act deals with the provisions relating to all children in need of care and protection including neglected children, trafficked children as well as children in conflict with the law. JJ Act is one of the most comprehensive laws in the country dealing with the rescue, repatriation and rehabilitation of child labourers, creation and running of short-stay homes for children, and even matters pertaining to privacy of children.

A division bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice A K Patnaik said that we have to look towards the enforcement of child rights laws. The court directed the government to ensure that all the provisions relating to the act are complied with this including formation of Child Welfare Committees (CWC) and Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) in each district and appointment of Special Juvenile Police Officers (SJPO) to ensure law enforcement within the next six weeks.

Appearing on the behalf of BBA senior advocate Colin Gonsalves said that this is a huge step in favour of child rights and keeps the ball rolling towards law enforcement.

Appearing on behalf of Government of India, Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium informed the court that the government planning to come out with a notification banning child labour in circuses any day, and is also looking at overall dimensions on child rights.

Mr. R S Chaurasia, Chairperson, BBA welcomed the step and said that it is really encouraging that the court has decided to hear this petition every Friday and is looking at the entire dimension of child labour, child trafficking, and child rights.

The court also appointed National Commission of Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) as nodal agency for monitoring of today’s order and reporting the same to the court.

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_union-govt-set-to-ban-children-in-circuses_1338110

http://news.oneindia.in/2010/01/22/scorders-formation-of-cwcs-and-jjbs-for-children-in.html