Hospitals Must Face Licence Cancellation If Involved In Newborn Trafficking, Says SC
The Supreme Court slammed child trafficking, saying hospitals must lose licenses if newborns are stolen. It cancelled bail for the UP accused, who paid Rs 4 lakh for a trafficked baby boy.
Taking a strong stand against child trafficking, the Supreme Court said that the licenses of hospitals should be cancelled if any newborn is stolen. This came while the apex court was hearing a case where a couple in Uttar Pradesh who wanted a boy were given a trafficked baby. The court also cancelled the bail of the accused, who were granted anticipatory bail by the Allahabad High Court.
According to a report by India Today, the bench told the accused that just because they were "longing for a son", they paid Rs 4 lakh.
"You cannot go for a trafficked child. He knew that the baby was stolen", they added.
The court further said, "These accused pose a serious threat to society. The least which was required from the High Court while granting bail was to impose a condition to mark presence in a police station every week. The police lost track of all the accused.”
The report says that a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan to speed up and complete trials of such cases within six months.
The court observed that the trafficked children had been recovered from West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan. Labelling the accused as a threat to society, the Supreme Court criticized the High Court's decision to grant bail as reckless. The bench also rebuked the Uttar Pradesh government for failing to challenge the bail order.
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"High Courts across the country are directed to call for the status of pending trials in child trafficking cases. Then directions shall be issued to complete the trial in 6 months and also conduct a day-to-day trial," the court said.
The top court also blasted the Uttar Pradesh government over the handling of such cases and laid down guidelines to prevent such cases.
"If any newborn is trafficked from a hospital, the first step should be to suspend the license of such hospitals. If any woman comes to deliver a child to the hospital and the baby is stolen, the first step is suspension of licence," the court ordered while saying that failure to follow this will be taken as contempt of court.
The Supreme Court has directed all High Courts to take cognizance of pending child trafficking cases and to instruct trial courts to ensure their disposal within six months.
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