A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice N M Jamdar took suo motu notice of newspaper articles regarding the escape of 23 inmates from the state-run Navjeevan Mahila Vastigruh and another report highlighting plight of the inmates.
The shelter houses women rescued under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act.
The reply will have to be filed next week.
The government will also have to file the reply on allegations levelled by one of the escaped women claiming that several inmates of the shelter home were raped and assaulted by men who used to barge in the hostel without being stopped by guards there.
The woman in an interview to a tabloid claimed that around six to seven men armed with weapons used to enter the shelter regularly in the night and rape and attack the inmates.
Despite lodging several complaints with the authorities no action was taken, the woman further claimed.
On Saturday, around 60 women housed in the Navjeevan Mahila Vastigruh had tried to escape after a fight with the caretakers. Of the 36 who scaled the compound wall, 13 were caught while 23 are still at large.
