The Supreme Court has issued detailed guidelines for the rescue, protection and rehabilitation of victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation, holding that such victims have a fundamental right to rehabilitation under Articles 21 and 23 of the Constitution. Victims shall not, at any stage, be treated as criminal, Court held.
A Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan framed a “Victim Protection Plan” to govern all stages of intervention, including pre-rescue, rescue, post-rescue, rehabilitation, repatriation, reintegration, prosecution, trial, prevention and training. The Bench also urged the Union government to consider a comprehensive law on trafficking and address cyber-enabled human trafficking.
"Victims shall not, at any stage, be treated as criminals or subjected to measures associated with criminal liability. All actors shall at all times accord them the status of a crime victim," the Court further emphasised.The judgment came in an application filed by Prajwala, an anti-trafficking organisation, in a public interest litigation that began in 2004.
The Court found that despite earlier assurances, no comprehensive framework had been put in place for victim protection.“To put it simply, it is what existed in 2015 that continues till date,” the Bench said, while rejecting the Union government’s stand that the existing framework was sufficient.The Court said that there was no clear binding mechanism on how victims are to be handled during and after rescue.
“The lack of a Victim Protection Plan is a serious lacuna that carries the risk of derailing any and all rescue efforts, as there is no clear, guiding, and binding framework for how victims are to be handled, both during and after rescue,” the judgment stated.
Lack of a Victim Protection Plan is a serious lacuna that carries the risk of derailing any and all rescue efforts. It added that in such a situation, protection and rehabilitation becomes arbitrary and contingent on the will or whims of the person charged with their care at the ground level.The Bench, therefore, held that it had no option but to issue directions under Articles 32 and 142 of the Constitution, detailing the manner in which preventive, protective and rehabilitative measures are to be taken to safeguard the fundamental rights of the victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.
The victim protection plan now framed by the Court is founded on six principles: primacy of human rights and dignity, non-criminalisation, informed consent, non-stigmatisation and non-discrimination, safety and protection, and privacy and confidentiality.The Bench also directed that adult victims must be produced before the Magistrate, while child victims must be produced before the Child Welfare Committee. If there is any doubt regarding age, the person must be treated as a child and the question of age determination must be left to the Child Welfare Committee.
Follow us
