New Delhi, Apr 15 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday warned parents in the country about the dangers of child trafficking and asked them to be extremely vigilant with their children.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, which took a stern view of the inter-state child trafficking rackets, said long delays in the adoption process had led to an increase in the demand for children declared legally fit for adoptions, giving rise to children being trafficked for adoption.

“We want to convey a message to one and all, more particularly the parents across the country that they should remain extremely vigilant and careful with their children. A slight carelessness or negligence or laxity on their part may prove to be extremely costly,” the bench said.

The verdict went on, “Over the years, demands for the adoption of children have increased and there is a significant waiting period for prospective parents to adopt. At any given point in time, there are parents waiting for at least 3-4 years to adopt. Even after being processed and children being matched, the necessary verification processes also take a long time.” The bench observed a global recognition for the duality of the crime committed during the course of illegal adoption, where a parent has participated in the commercial transaction of transferring the custody of their child, or cases where the parent did not have any financial gain but the adoption was illegal.

The pain and agony a parent faces when a child dies was different from the suffering when their children were lost to trafficking, it added.

“It is worse than death. Therefore, we humbly urge one and all to remain very cautious and vigilant,” the bench said.

If any newborn was trafficked from any hospital, the court said, the immediate action against the hospital should be suspension of licence to run the hospital in addition to other legal actions.

“When any lady comes to deliver her baby in any hospital, it is the responsibility of the administration of the hospital to protect the newborn infant in all respects,” the bench said.

The state governments and law enforcement machinery was therefore directed to strengthen their mechanism to check operation of inter-state child trafficking rackets. PTI MNL MNL AMK AMK