'Don't drag us into your agenda': SC warns child rights body in probe plea

Supreme Court criticises NCPCR over plea for SIT probe against Missionaries of Charity, calls petition 'vague and unsubstantiated'

The Supreme Court of India strongly criticised the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) for its plea seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into allegations of children being sold by shelter homes in Jharkhand run by the Missionaries of Charity, an organisation founded by Mother Teresa.

A bench led by Justices BV Nagarathna and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh dismissed the NCPCR's petition, calling it vague and unsubstantiated. The court reprimanded the child rights body, saying, “Don’t drag the Supreme Court into your agenda,” and emphasised that the relief sought in the plea was poorly formulated and not actionable.

Background of case

Filed in 2020, the NCPCR’s plea aimed to address concerns regarding human trafficking, particularly the sale of children in Jharkhand’s shelter homes. The child rights body claimed that multiple states, including Jharkhand, had shown negligence in protecting minors, and the state authorities had actively hindered the investigation into these alleged abuses.

“During the course of inquiry by the petitioner (NCPCR), shocking revelations were made by victims, including the fact that the children were being sold from children’s homes. These facts were emphatically brought to the notice of the state government (Jharkhand) but continuous attempts were made to sabotage and derail the inquiry,” the petition said.

The NCPCR had urged the court to initiate a time-bound investigation monitored by the apex court into child protection issues within Jharkhand's organisations. However, the bench rejected the plea, highlighting that the NCPCR itself had the authority to investigate such cases under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act of 2005. The court clarified that it was not the Supreme Court’s role to intervene when the NCPCR had the legal powers to take appropriate action.

The Supreme Court made it clear that it would not pass any directions on the matter and dismissed the NCPCR’s petition, effectively ending the possibility of an SIT probe at this stage.

(With agency inputs)