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: Police can't accused to arrest in child trafficking
The has dismissed the bail application of Rajkumar, an accused in an infant trafficking case, while sharply criticizing the police for selectively arresting some accused persons and failing to recover the trafficked child. Justice Girish Kathpalia, presiding over the single bench, deprecated the policy of "" in arrests and directed the to ensure the arrest of the main accused, Dr. Kulvinder Kaur, who remains at large.
The court's decision came on a bail application filed by Rajkumar, who has been in custody for over two and a half years in connection with FIR No. 293/2024 registered at under and . The case involves the alleged sale of an infant girl after she was taken in adoption by Rajkumar and co-accused Gayatri, who posed as a married couple. The infant was later sold to co-accused Deepika, who further sold her to unknown persons.
Court deprecates selective arrests
While hearing the matter, Justice Kathpalia expressed strong displeasure over the police's failure to arrest Dr. Kulvinder Kaur, noting that she is not even a qualified doctor but an unqualified nurse. The court observed that the state's policy of selectively arresting accused persons cannot be approved.
"Such kind of
in matter of arrest must be deprecated,"
the court said, ordering a copy of its order to be sent to the DCP to look into the matter.
The investigating officer, SI Ashok Kumar, was asked to explain the status of Dr. Kulvinder Kaur, but the court noted that the police were taking "practically no action" against her. At this stage, the State's counsel assured the court that she would be arrested.
The missing infant and appalling investigation
Justice Kathpalia also expressed grave concern over the failure of the police to recover the trafficked infant girl, who was the sixth girl child in her biological family.
"The role played by the investigators in this case is highly appalling,"
the court remarked, as the child has not been found even two years after the FIR was registered. The court directed the DCP to ensure the recovery of the child at the earliest and file a status report within four weeks.
Why bail was denied
Rajkumar's counsel argued for parity with co-accused Deepika, who had been granted bail, but the court rejected this, noting that Deepika was granted bail for distinct reasons and, crucially, is not visible in the photographs showing the infant being taken into custody. Rajkumar, however, clearly appears in those photographs. The court also noted the gravity of the offence:
"One has to understand that every time custody of an infant is taken away from her biological mother… the infant suffers tremendous dent in her psyche."
Final decision: bail application dismissed
Considering the
evidence and the serious nature of the alleged child trafficking racket, the court found no ground to release Rajkumar on bail.
"I do not find it a fit case to release the accused/applicant on bail,"
Justice Kathpalia concluded. The bail application was dismissed, and the order was directed to be sent to the jail superintendent for immediate communication to the accused.
