Patna HC issues notice on plea seeking ban on employment of minors in orchestra, dance groups

New Delhi, June 29 The Patna High Court has issued a notice to the Bihar government on a plea seeking complete prohibition on employment of minors in orchestra and dance groups to prevent child trafficking and exploitation of children.

A Bench of Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Partha Sarthy was dealing with a plea filed by Just Rights for Children (JRC), a network of over 250 NGOs for the protection of child rights, seeking directions to immediate seal and shut the premises of orchestra and dance groups in Bihar, where minors or victims of child trafficking are confined and compelled to perform illegal acts.

Terming trafficking and exploitation of children as a “serious issue”, the ACJ Kumar-led Bench issued notice to the state government and called for its response within a period of two weeks.

In its plea, the petitioner JRC prayed for formation of a comprehensive and coordinated action plan in collaboration with all stakeholders to prevent the exploitation of minor girls, apart from seeking directions to Bihar government to ensure regulation and monitoring of orchestra groups, and to provide compensation and rehabilitation to the victims under the provisions of the Bihar Victim Compensation Scheme, 2014.

JRC’s partner organisations, in coordination with local administration, had earlier rescued a large number of minor girls during raids on orchestra groups in the districts of Rohtas, Saran, and Gopalganj.

Following these rescue operations, JRC demanded a complete ban on the employment of minor girls in orchestra groups and sought comprehensive rehabilitation measures to prevent them from being pushed back into exploitation.

“These children are subjected to daily sexual, physical and emotional abuse, which constitutes a blatant violation of their constitutional and fundamental rights under Articles 21, 23, 24, 38, 39 and 43 of the Constitution of India,” the plea said.

It added that stringent legal action should be taken against the perpetrators to dismantle trafficking networks and prevent exploitation of minors in orchestra and dance groups across the state of Bihar.

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