The Bombay high court on Friday directed the petitioners to seek guidelines from special magistrate Swati Chavan on issues related to trafficking of minor girls after the petitioners’ counsel argued that the offenders are granted bail easily who then go absconding, and as a result, the case gets delayed for years.
The special bench, presided on by Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Roshan Dalvi, was hearing inter-related matters concerning the welfare of women in the state. The first matter involved death of a newborn whose mother, a pavement dweller, delivered on the pavement after being refused treatment in three civic hospitals. After listening to the state counsel’s arguments that civic hospitals can only treat pavement dwellers in times of “emergency”, Chief Justice Shah said, “It is very insensitive on your part to say that.”
Petitioner’s counsel Gayatri Singh argued that the state should take necessary steps in making sure that required treatment is given to both the mother and the baby.
In another matter concerning the issue of the accused, involved in trafficking of minor girls and women who are foreign nationals, getting bail easily by the lower courts, advocate Singh argued, “There have been instances where the accused, after being granted bail, went absconding and was only arrested later in some other case. This allows the accused to go on the run, but the victims spend years in confinement.”
Advocate Singh said, “There should also be guidelines on confidentiality of witnesses and protective homes for victims. The Central government’s advisory that was given to all states clearly mentions that in cases of foreign nationals who are apprehended, a detailed interrogation should be carried out to ascertain whether the person is a victim or a trafficker.”
The bench directed that the advisory pertaining to trafficking of foreign nationals needs to be communicated to all magistrates and concerned police stations by August 30.