The Supreme Court has considered a separate agency emphasizing the need for protection of the victims and a comprehensive protocol in the case of human trafficking. | Photo Courtesy: Sushil Kumar Verma
The Supreme Court has made it clear on Tuesday that it will seriously consider the demand for a separate agency to investigate and prosecute cases of human trafficking and a separate and comprehensive protocol to take care of the safety of crime victims.
Senior advocate Aparna Bhat on behalf of the petitioner NGO Prajwala, while appearing in the bench presided over by Justice JB Pardiwala, said that people who control smuggling often run away after being caught by the police.
She pointed out that the accused who are arrested or dragged in the case of trafficking are usually the low-level operators and victims who are found at the scene.
Little effort is usually made to trace the sources of financing for smuggling operations, Ms. Bhat noted.
“Today there is no institutional framework to deal with human trafficking comprehensively,” the senior lawyer presented.
Ms Bhat referred to the Supreme Court’s December 9, 2015 order in which the Home Ministry had recorded an assurance to set up an ‘Organised Crime Investigation Agency (OCIA)’ by September 2016.
She also referred to the Women and Child Development Ministry’s policy decision in November 2015 to set up a committee to prepare a “comprehensive law on trafficking”.
Responding for the central government, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati submitted that the new criminal laws, namely, the Indian Judicial Code Act, the Indian Civil Protection Code Act, and the Indian Competency Act, all of which came into effect on July 1, 2024. Dealing with trafficking extensively.
Ms Bhati said the Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in 2018 but failed with the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.
In support of the new agency, Ms Bhati said the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the new Criminal Law and Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1955 “meets the requirements originally envisaged for the OCIA and the proposed Trafficking Act”. More strong.
The bench reserved the case for judgment.
published – December 18, 2024 at 04:55 pm IST