SC seeks details on trafficked women, children

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked all state governments to furnish to the central government details of all the cases filed under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 (ITP Act) and the Indian Penal Code till September 30, 2015.

"States shall give complete details with regard to the cases filed under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 and under sections 370 and 370A of Indian Penal Code during 2014 and till September 30, 2015," said judges Anil R. Dave, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph.

Section 370 of the IPC provides for punishment for buying or disposing of any person as a slave. Section 370A provides for punishment for the exploitation of trafficked persons.

The court said the details would be made available "within a fortnight from today so that the union of India can collect the data and put it in a proper format for perusal of this court".

The court said the information would be submitted to the court before November 16. It directed the next hearing on the rescue and rehabilitation of the trafficked people to be held on November 19.

The court asked the Cabinet Secretary to take steps for setting up a committee comprising relevant ministries and departments, states and union territoeis to prepare a comprehensive legislation to tackle all aspects of trafficking.

The government told the court that there was an urgent need for setting up an Organised Crime Investigation Agency (OCIA) to deal with human trafficking.

Asking the union home ministry to do the needful, the court wanted the know the scope and the width of the proposed OCIA.

The court also asked the central government to provide details about the action taken to curb the trafficking in women and children for sexual exploitation.