Delhi High Court directs AAP Government to file detailed status report on child beggars

New Delhi : The Delhi High Court has directed the Arvind Kejriwal-led government to tell what steps have been taken to rehabilitate children after they were rescued from begging on the streets.

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chnadra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula was hearing a petition by Ajay Gautam seeking direction to take steps to eradicate begging by children and related problems in and around the national capital.

The bench also asked the Delhi government to file a status report informing about children in conflict with law rescued by the authorities and housed in various rehabilitation centres.

It said: "The Government of NCT of Delhi is also directed to file a detailed status report within six weeks providing information regarding children in conflict with law rescued by the government and housed in various rehabilitation centres, steps taken by the government for rehabilitation of such children and an assessment of long-term impact of such centres upon children in its care.”

The petitioner argued that the issue of child begging remains widespread in Delhi even after the implementation of various schemes and programmes undertaken by various agencies, commissions and government bodies.

The high court said it becomes crucial to examine the impact of various rehabilitation measures in light of the persistence of this grave social issue, and listed the case for hearing next on October 13.

Earlier, the high court had rapped the Delhi government for not submitting the status report on the petition. "The government either doesn't file the response, doesn't provide a copy to the respondents or files a defective one, to delay the proceedings," a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad had said.

The bench had issued notices to the Centre, Delhi government and the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR). Gautam has filed a petition asking whether the state is bound to perform its duties as per Section 13 (E) and (F) of The Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005.

He has also requested the court to direct the Delhi Police to identify and arrest the mafias/gangs involved in the organised sexual exploitation and forcing women to use their children for begging and other related crimes.

Gautam has complained that child beggars can be seen everywhere at Delhi traffic signals, shopping places, railway stations and more, and the concerned department has still not stepped forward to stop these practices. The begging mafia is not only actively involved in the begging by the children, but they also kidnap, train, force and torture innocent children for that.