THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
While the State government informed the Bombay High Court at Goa that a child care institution (CCI), under scrutiny for violating the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 is now cooperating with the ongoing inquiry; the North Goa Child Welfare Committee’s (CWC) report claimed that many institutions are operating in blatant violation of the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act.
In its submission to a Public Interest Litigation, CWC stated that the registration certificates of CCIs mandate that children be admitted only under the orders of the CWC, which is being out rightly violated.
“The Committee of late observed that some of the CCIs in North Goa are not adhering to the due process of law and not following the mandate of the JJA 2015 and the Rules framed there under… It is observed that certain institutions in utter disregard to the formation and authority of the CWC and total defiance and violations of the provision of the JJA and the Goa Children’s Act 2003 are housing children without obtaining necessary orders of the Committee,” the report stated.
The CWC further observed that some institutions were sending children home on long leaves of absence without informing the committee, and in some cases, children were released without the CWC’s knowledge despite valid orders.
With regards to inspection at Kathleen House in Assagao, run by the El Shaddai Charitable Trust on July 31, the CWC alleged the in-charge refused to provide the register or books to the committee regarding a six-year-old housed there.
“The CWC proceeded with its inspection at Assagao and Saligao and observed there are some children housed without orders of the Committee, some children despite being released continue to be housed in the CCI and some children despite having orders were shown as absent in the attendance registers of the respective institutions,” it added.
The CWC also raised objections to videos of children, protected under the JJA and GCA, being released on social media platforms by the CCIs.
Advocate General Devidas Pangam on Tuesday informed the court that the institution has now allowed authorities access and the CWC requires additional time to issue orders for all children.
