Child labour PIL: HC slaps Rs 10K cost on Delhi govt

The Delhi High Court today imposed Rs 10,000 as cost on the city government after its failure to file a "comprehensive" report relating to the number of child labourers rescued and action taken against their employers since 2009.
A bench of Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice Jayant Nath expressed displeasure after the counsel for the Delhi Police submitted some tabulation sheets instead of the report before the court.
"We don't want the tabulation sheet but the report over the issue. We wanted to know whether you continue with raids or not since our last order in March this year.

"This court had, earlier, directed to rescue at least 500 children per month," the bench said and imposed the cost on the Delhi government.
The court had sought the report on rescue of child labourers on a PIL filed by Save the Childhood Foundation, an NGO, seeking elimination of child labour from the capital.
On March 6, the high court had asked the Delhi government to file a comprehensive report by May 1.

On the last date of hearing, the petitioner's counsel Prabhashay Kaur had contended the labour department has failed to comply with the directions passed by the high court in 2009 to rescue child labourers and rehabilitate them as per action plan formulated by a committee comprising officers from various departments.

Earlier, the high court had accepted the suggestions of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) that those employing child labourers should be fined Rs 20,000 immediately and the labour department should prosecute the employers in accordance with the law.
The bench had also said the recovered money would be utilised for educational needs of the rescued children even if the child has subsequently crossed the age of 14 years.