JUDGMENT

Dalveer Bhandari, J. —

1. This petition has been filed in public interest under Article 32 of the Constitution in the wake of serious violations and abuse of children who are forcefully detained in circuses, in many instances, without any access to their families under extreme inhuman conditions. There are instances of sexual abuse on a daily basis, physical abuse as well as emotional abuse. The children are deprived of basic human needs of food and water.

2. It is stated in the petition that the petitioner has filed this petition following a series of incidents where the petitioner came in contact with many children who were trafficked into performing in circuses. The petitioner found that circus is one of the ancient forms of indigenous entertainment in the world, with humans having a major role to play. However, the activities that are undertaken in these circuses deprive the artists especially children of their basic fundamental rights. Most of them are trafficked from some poverty-stricken areas of Nepal as well as from backward districts of India. The outside world has no meaning for them. There is no life beyond the circus campus. Once they enter into the circuses, they are confined to the circus arena, with no freedom of mobility and choice. They are entrapped into the world of circuses for the rest of their lives, leading a vagrant tunnelled existence away from the hub of society, which is tiresome, claustrophobic and dependent on vicissitudes.

3. It is submitted that the petitioner is engaged in a social movement for the emancipation of children in exploitative labour, bondage and servitude. Bachpan Bachao Andolan has been able to liberate thousands of children with the help of the judiciary and the executive as well as through persuasion, social mobilization and education.

4. It is submitted that for the first time the petitioner came to know about the plight of children in Indian circuses way back in 1996. At that time, the petitioner had rescued 18 girls from a circus performing in Vidisha District of Madhya Pradesh. This was possible after a complaint made by a 12 year old girl, who managed to escape from the circus premises. Her complaint was that she and several other Nepalese girls had been trafficked and forced to stay and perform in the circus where they were being sexually abused and were kept in most inhuman conditions.

5. Following this incident, an organised attempt was made by the petitioner to understand and learn more about the problem of child labour in Indian Circuses and how to eradicate the same. This began in July 2002 with the initiation of a research on the problem of child labour in Indian circuses. The findings in the abovementioned research were compiled in a report termed “Eliminating Child Labour from Indian Circuses”.

6. Once all the above facts and figures were established, the petitioner decided to implement a multi-pronged strategy to eradicate the practice of employing children in Indian circuses. Simultaneously, preparations were made to put across the problem in front of circus owners to make them aware of the moral and legal questions pertaining to the use of children in circuses. The petitioner initiated a dialogue with all the major circus owners and appealed to them to stop trafficking, bondage, Child labour and other violations of child rights. The Indian Circus Federation (for short ‘I.C.F.’) responded positively but ironically this body has a very thin representation from the circus industry with approximately less than 10% of the big circuses and probably less than 20% of all the circuses were members of this Federation.

7. It is submitted that the petitioner convened a meeting with the circus owners on the 18th and 19th August, 2003 where a few owners under the umbrella of I.C.F. agreed to make a declaration that there shall be no further use of children in the circuses in India and a full list of the children employed by them will be provided to the petitioner a