KOCHI: A division bench of Kerala High Court on Monday directed the CBI to probe all child-trafficking cases in the state. The bench headed by Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan issued the order while hearing a public interest litigation filed by an NGO which sought the court's intervention to stop children from other states being trafficked to orphanages in the state.
The state government had earlier opposed the proposal for a CBI probe. The court also wanted the State Child Rights Protection Commission to inspect all orphanages and bring all such institutions under the ambit of the Juvenile Justice Act.
The bench directed that proper legal procedures should be complied with if any institution wants to bring children from other states. It is the district administration and district-level Child Welfare Committees which have to monitor the transport of children, the court observed.
The Child Welfare Committee has also been asked to find out whether all orphanages in the state are registered.
The state has 1,387 orphanages recognised by the State Orphanage Control Board and there are around 54,000 inmates, as per government records.
The unauthorised trafficking of children from other states hit the headlines when 450 children from Bihar and Jharkhand were brought to a few orphanages in north Kerala last year.
A case was registered after the railway police caught the agents on the charge of bringing the children without proper documents.
