On Tuesday, the Supreme Court voiced serious concern after noting a media report claiming that every eight minutes, a child goes missing in India. Without confirming the accuracy of the figure, Justice B.V. Nagarathna remarked that such information, if true, highlights a deeply troubling situation. The Bench, also comprising Justice R. Mahadevan, observed that the adoption process in India remains complicated and that such rigour often drives people toward illegal means of obtaining children, making the need for a stronger institutional mechanism even more pressing.
The case arose from a petition filed by the NGO Guria Swayam Sevi Sansthan, which drew the Court’s attention to unresolved cases of missing and kidnapped children, particularly from Uttar Pradesh. The Petition highlighted how minors were trafficked through networks of middlemen to states such as Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. It also pointed out gaps in the functioning of the Khoya/Paya portal and emphasised the need for coordinated nationwide action, given the lack of uniformity among police forces across different States and Union Territories.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Union Government, requested six weeks’ time to appoint a nodal officer who would oversee and coordinate efforts relating to missing children. The Bench, however, refused to grant the extended timeline. It directed the Centre to complete the appointment by December, highlighting that the issue could not be delayed any further.
In earlier orders, the Court had asked the Union Government to instruct all States and Union Territories to designate nodal officers for handling missing child cases and to upload their details onto the Mission Vatsalya portal maintained by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. The Bench had also stressed that any complaint registered on the portal must be shared simultaneously with the respective nodal officers to ensure timely action. Noting persistent systemic shortcomings, the Court had previously advised the creation of a dedicated online portal under the Home Ministry that would exclusively deal with tracing missing children, facilitating investigation, and enabling smooth inter-State coordination.
Reiterating the urgency of the matter, the Court once again highlighted that fragmented policing and the absence of a unified response mechanism have significantly hampered efforts to trace missing children. With the latest direction, the Court has pressed the Centre to expedite its compliance as it continues monitoring the broader issue of child safety and trafficking across the country.
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