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The Delhi High Court is set to consider if there is any procedure adopted by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) wherein sexual assault victims are explained the provisions relating to the ‘surrender of children’ and its consequences in the victim’s ‘vernacular language’ or the language she speaks and understands.
A single-judge bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, in its November 6 order, appointed advocate Kumud Lata Das as an amicus curiae for assistance in a case relating to the bail plea of a man booked in a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso) case.
The court framed certain questions for consideration requiring Das’s assistance. These included who would be the ‘legal guardian of the child in question’ surrendered before the CWC when both the biological father and mother of the child were alive and in a consensual relationship. It will also consider whether the victim was informed after the expiry of two months before giving up the child for adoption.
The girl had submitted before the trial court that she was 18 years of age when she voluntarily went with the accused and married him out of her own free will. The mother of the girl claimed that her daughter had been kidnapped. When the girl was recovered by the police, she was pregnant; the accused was arrested subsequently and sent to judicial custody.
The high court granted the man bail on October 12, while the police was directed to ensure that the entire record of the CWC through which the child was allegedly ‘surrendered’ given for adoption is produced before the high court.
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The high court on November 6 perused through the CWC records and observed that Form 23, application of surrender, explanation of surrender, etc. are all written or filled in English, which everyone is not able to understand. It noted that the girl was not educated and only knew Urdu.
“In these circumstances, it was even more critical that the entire proceedings should have been explained to the victim herein as well as her guardian in their vernacular language or the language they speak and understand, and the CWC members, who are expected to show utmost sensitivity and be participating in the proceedings instead of conducting the proceedings in a business-like manner, should have seen that the victim and her mother understood the proceedings that were being conducted,” Justice Sharma said.
The court further noted that the girl’s statements before the CWC made it clear that she maintained a relationship with the accused out of her own free will and had also opted to continue with the pregnancy. In the meantime, the accused, who was in judicial custody, was unaware of the proceedings, including the surrender of the child before the CWC.
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