SC asks Centre to set up OCIA for probing child trafficking

In a bid to curb inter-state and international trafficking of girls for sexual exploitation, the Supreme Court today asked the Centre to operationalise by December 1, 2016 the Organised Crimes Investigating Agency (OCIA) for probing human trafficking cases across the nation.
A bench, headed by Justice A R Dave, also asked the Ministry of Women and Child Development, which has set up a panel headed by its Secretary on November 16, to complete the consultation process in six months on the issue of making a comprehensible legislation to deal with issues like prevention, rescue and rehabilitation of the victims of trafficking for commercial and sexual exploitation.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development had earlier favoured a comprehensive legislation on trafficking and said that the consultation and other initial process would begin soon.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had simultaneously favoured setting up of the Organised Crimes Investigating Agency (OCIA) for investigating cases of human trafficking on the ground that they involve many states.
The bench, also comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, then disposed of the 2004 PIL and asked that MHA to ensure that the OCIA is in place by December 1, next year.
Earlier, it had asked all states and UTs to provide the data of FIRs, registered between 2014 to September 30, 2015 with regard to girl child trafficking under certain provisions of the IPC and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) within a fortnight.

The MHA will collate the data and will file an affidavit, it had said.