Overview
- The Delhi High Court, which heard the matter Wednesday, issued notices to Indian Railways, the Delhi government, Delhi Police and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights after a PIL flagged a surge in trafficking at stations and on trains.
- The bench directed the child-rights commission to file data and suggestions, and it listed the case for the next hearing on July 10.
- The judges said trafficking of young children remains unabated despite past court orders and described Delhi as a 'mandi' for such crimes, pointing to visible activity at major rail hubs.
- The petition says officials are violating railways’ standard procedures for finding, rescuing and rehabilitating trafficked children, and it cites a case from Anand Vihar where a rescued girl was allegedly returned to traffickers.
- The filings cite an estimate of about 84,000 children rescued by the Railway Protection Force from 2018 to 2024 to press for tighter compliance and oversight across railway hubs.