Sunidhi-
Published on: August 28, 2021, at 17:00 IST
Taking suo motu in the case of dealing with the plight of children affected by COVID, Supreme Court’s Division Bench of Justice Nageswara Rao and Justice Aniruddha Bose made an observation that “More than a lakh children have lost either or both parents during this pandemic. It is heart-wrenching to note that the survival of so many children is at stake”.
Child Welfare Committees of all States were directed to complete their pending inquiries as provided under Juvenile Justice Act within three weeks and State Governments to file the report of their status within next four weeks by the Bench.
The schemes initiated by the Union of India, State Governments and Union Territories for the welfare and protection of children were appreciated by the Supreme Court.
The Bench also stated that “State has a duty and obligation to facilitate education for children and in the present situation, must realise the importance of continuance of education of the forlorn children.”
The suo motu case was originally taken up by the Supreme Court Bench in March 2020 to adhere to the issue of COVID spread in Juvenile Homes and Child Care Centres.
The directions were passed to identify orphans, control their illegal adoption and upload their information on ‘Bal Swaraj’ portal of National Commission for protection of Child Rights.
Click here to read/download the Judgement
Also Read: First time Offenders and Juvenile Justice in India