Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu Child Welfare Committee to handover 20 children from Meghalaya, rescued from an unlicensed NGO and currently under its custody, to the Chief Secretary of that state.
Passing interim orders on a PIL, the First Bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Sathish K Agnihotri and Justice M M Sunderesh, directed the committee to produce all the children in their custody on March 13 before the Chief Secretary and on establishing their identities, they should be handed over to their parents.
The matter pertains to 20 children who were trafficked from Meghalaya and kept in an unlicensed NGO in Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri District bypassing all mandatory procedures, according to the PIL.
These children were shifted to a licensed NGO after social worker A Narayanan petitioned the authorities and following a court order, medical, education and other facilities were provided, it said.
The bench, passing further orders on the PIL filed by the social worker yesterday, also directed both the Tamil Nadu Child Welfare Committee and Meghalaya Chief Secretary to file the compliance report to the High Court.
