Supreme Court Directs Creation Of Online Portal To Track Missing Children

The Supreme Court has issued a significant directive in cases related to child trafficking and abduction. The Court has instructed the central government to develop a common online portal to improve coordination between the states and the Union government.

The Court-directed portal will enable states to upload detailed, real-time data and trigger instant notifications for missing children, ensuring swift inter-state coordination, as mandated by Justices BV Nagarathna and A Mahadevan.

The Court emphasised that child trafficking and abduction are not confined to the boundaries of a single state.

Trafficking syndicates commonly kidnap minors from one state and relocate them to another jurisdiction. In these cases, immediate exchange of information across states is necessary.

The bench observed that children reported missing in one state frequently turn up in another, making joint recovery efforts imperative.

During the hearing, the Court inquired whether the central government could set up a unified portal to monitor missing children and whether the Ministry of Home Affairs possessed any actionable recommendations on the matter.

Court Stresses Urgent Coordination

The Court further directed each state to appoint a nodal officer responsible for uploading information about missing children onto the portal. The Home Ministry official has been instructed to coordinate with all state officials to ensure smooth operation.

The Court also ordered that the portal should issue an alert every time a child goes missing.

Additionally, it asked the government to clarify when and how such a system would be implemented.

The case arose from a public interest litigation concerning child trafficking and incomplete cases registered on the existing Khoya-Paya portal.

The petition emphasised that criminal trafficking networks frequently prey on children from economically disadvantaged and vulnerable families.

Furthermore, traffickers abduct them and transfer them across state boundaries for sale.

On September 24, 2024, the Supreme Court instructed the central government to start collecting both district and yearly data on missing kids.

With its new directive, the Supreme Court wants to make monitoring more immediate and recovery much quicker. Coordination between state and central authorities is sharper so that children are better protected from trafficking and abduction.

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