Delhi HC Issues Notice On PIL Seeking Direction To Stop Child Begging At Traffic Signals

What Is The Case

• On a petition seeking direction to implement effective legislation and policies to stop child begging and sale of goods on traffic signals and junctions, the High Court of Delhi issued notice to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), the Delhi Government, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and others.
• On Monday, May 3, 2021, a bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh sought responses from all respondents in Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Piyush Chhabra, a social activist and practising lawyer in Delhi Courts, and adjourned the case until June 2.

Details Of The Case

• Piyush Chhabra, the petitioner, also requested that the respondent’s issue orders protecting the rights of children on Delhi's streets and making proper arrangements for children in Child Care Institutes.
• The petition also asks for guidance on how to create effective policies and legislation to address the dreadful conditions that children face on the streets.
• The petition also requests that the Delhi Commission for Children's Protection Rights (DCPCR) verify the identity of these impoverished children, as well as their paternity, in order to determine the true identity of these children, especially infants, and to take appropriate legal action against adults who encourage child begging or use helpless children as a tool for begging.
• The children and infants who are the subject of this petition need immediate state protection. Children are a country's most valuable human resource, and the well-being of its children is a barometer of its social growth.
• That using children as a means of begging or engaging children directly on the open road, even in poor weather, is not only dangerous to their mental and physical health but also violates their fundamental rights to life and education, according to the plea.

Observation Of The Plea

• The petition reads as follows: "That the abuse and threat are out in the open on the streets, and the respondents are obligated to stop it. However, despite the urgency and the ongoing pandemic, no voice was provided to the respondents. It is worth noting that on many occasions, the petitioner dialled 100 numbers when he discovered babies in the hands of minor children. That the plaintiff has not previously filed any Writ/PIL for the current cause of action, and that no such petition is currently pending on his behalf."
• "Childhood development is a vital phase of life that has an impact on an individual's health, well-being, learning, and behaviour throughout their lives. Child maltreatment refers to the abuse and neglect of children, which is often done for the good or gain of someone else, resulting in the child being handled unfairly, cruelly, and unlawfully."

Prayers In The Plea

• To give the Respondents instructions on how to protect the rights of children on Delhi's streets.
• To give Respondents guidance, instructing them to make appropriate arrangements for the children at Child Care Institutes.
• To give the Respondents instructions to draft suitable policies/laws to address the dreadful conditions that children face on the streets.
• To order investigate any cases where criminal charges have been levelled against those who pushed these children into the streets.
• To give instructions to take the requisite steps to prevent children's human rights abuses.
• To provide Respondents instructions on how to pass suitable orders for these children to be placed in child care institutes.
• To order to confirm the identity of these impoverished children, as well as their paternity, in order to determine the true identity of these children, especially infants.
• To order Respondents to take effective legal action against adults who encourage child begging or use vulnerable children as begging tools.

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