SupremeToday Landscape Ad
Back
Next
Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation
Listen Audio Icon Pause Audio Icon
judgment-img

2021 Supreme(SC) 279

SUPREME COURT OF INDI A
L. NAGESWARA RAO, ANIRUDDHA BOSE, JJ.
IN RE CONTAGION OF COVID 19 VIRUS IN CHILDREN PROTECTION HOMES
SMW (C) NO. 4 OF 2020 (IA No. 64373 of 2021)
Decided On : 01-06-2021

Advocates appeared:
FOR the NCPCR : Mr. Tushar Mehta, S.G. Ms. Swarupama Chaturvedi, AOR Mr. Ashutosh Mohan, Adv Ms. Neha Rai,Adv.
Union of India Mr. Aishwarya Bhati, ASG Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, Adv Mr. B.V. Balram Das, AOR Mr. S.S. Rebello, Adv. Ms. Swati Ghildiyal, Adv. Mr. G.S. Makker,Adv. Mr. Raj Bahadur, AOR Ms. Anitha Shenoy,Sr.Adv. Ms. Srishti Agnihotri, AOR Mr. Abhishek Jebaraj,Adv. Ms. Sanjana Grace Thomas,Adv. Ms. Anmol Gupta,Adv. Mr. Chandratanay Chaube, Adv.
State of Chhattisgarh Mr. S. C. Verma, Adv. (Adv. Genl.) Mr. Manoj Kumar Singh, AAG Mr. Sumeer Sodhi AOR Mr. Arjun Nanda,Adv. Ms. Shreya Nair, Adv Mr. Nishant Patil, AOR Mr. Vidit Monga, Adv. Ms. Shubhika Saluja, Adv.
State of W.B. Mr. Suhaan Mukerji, Adv. Ms. Liz Mathew, Adv. Mr. Vishaal Prasad, Adv. Mr. Nikhil Parikshith,Adv. Mr. Abhishek Manchanda,Adv. Mr. Sayandeep Pahari, Adv. PLR Chambers & Co.
State of Mizoram Mr. Siddhesh Kotwal, Adv. Mr. Divyansh Tiwari,Adv. Ms. Ana Upadhyay,Adv. Ms. Manya Hasija, Adv. Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR
State of Haryana Ms. Bansuri Swaraj, Adv. Dr. Monika Gusain, AOR Mr. Shekhar Raj Sharma,Adv. Mr. Sanjay Kumar Visen, AOR Mr. Sanjeev Prakash Upadhyaya Adv
U.T. of J&K Ms. Shashi Juneja, Adv. Ms. Pinky Behera, Adv. Mr. G. M. Kawoosa, Adv. Ms. Taruna Ardhendhumauli Prasad, Adv. Mr. Parth Awasthi, Adv.
State of Karnataka Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR
State of Assam Mr. Nalin Kohli, AAG Ms. Diksha Rai, Adv. Ms. Palak Mahajan, Adv.
State of Assam Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, Adv. Mr. Narendra Kumar, AOR
State of A.P. Mr. Mahfooz A. Nazki, Adv. Mr. Polanki Gowtham,Adv. Mr. Shaik Mohamad Haneef,Adv. Mr. T. Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy,Adv. Mr. Amitabh Sinha, Adv. Mr. Shrey Sharma,Adv
U.T. of Andaman & Nicobar Mr. K.V. Jagdishvaran, Adv. Ms. G. Indira, Adv.
State of Bihar Mr. Gopal Singh, AOR. Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR
State of H.P. Mr. Himanshu Tyagi, AOR
State of Arunachal Pradesh Mr. Abhimanyu Tewari, AOR Ms. Eliza Bar, Adv. Mr. Pai Amit, AOR
State of Manipur Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv. Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv. Mr. Sharan Thakur,Adv. Mr. Mahesh Thakur, AOR Mr. Siddhartha Thakur,Adv.
U.T. of Puducherry Mr. V.G. Pragasam, AOR Mr. S. Prabhu Ramasubramanian, Adv.
State of Goa Mr. Ravindra A. Lokhande, Adv. Dr. Vidyottma Jha, Adv. Ms. Ambika Atrey, Adv. Dr. Abhishek Atrey, AOR
State of Goa Mr. Arun R. Pedneker, Adv. Ms. Mukti Chowdhary, AOR
State of Kerala Mr. Jishnu M.L., Adv. Ms. Priyanka Prakash, Adv. Ms. Beena Prakash, Adv. Mr. G. Prakash, AOR
State of Odisha Mr. Sibo Sankar Mishra AOR Mr. Umakant Misra Adv Mr. Rajiv Sinha Adv Mr. Ashok Kumar Singh Adv Mr. Niranjan Sahu, Adv
State of Odisha Dr. Anindita Pujari, AOR Mr. Deval Singh, Adv. Mr. Om Narayan, Adv.
State of Tripura Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, Adv. Mr. Kabir Shankar Bose,Adv. Mr. Rahul Raj Mishra,Adv.
State of Gujarat Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, Adv. Ms. Vishakha,Adv. Mr. A. P. Mayee, Adv.
State of Meghalaya Mr. Amit Kumar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Ms. Rekha Bakshi, Adv. Mr. P. S. Negi, Adv. Ms. Tarini K. Nayak, Adv. Mr. Shaurya Sahay, Adv. Mr. K.V. Kharlyngdoh, Adv.
State of Punjab Ms. Jaspreet Gogia, AOR Ms. Mandakini Singh, Adv. Mr. Karanvir Gogia,Adv. Ms. Shivangi Singhal,Adv. Ms. Ashima Mandla, Adv
State of Rajasthan Dr. Manish Singhvi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, Adv.
State of U.P. Ms. Garima Prashad, Adv Mr. Rohit K. Singh, Adv.
State of Telangana Mr. S. Udaya Kumar Sagar, AOR Ms. Sweena Nair, Adv.
State of T.N. Mr. Balaji Srinivasan, AAG Mr. M.Yogesh Kanna, AOR Mr. Raja Rajeswaran. S,Adv. Mr. Aditya Chada,Adv. Ms. Uma Prasuna Bachu, Adv.
State of Nagaland Mr. K N Balgopal Sr. Adv-AG Of Nagaland, Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Amit Kumar Singh, Adv Mr. Apratim Animesh Thakur, Adv. Ms. Prachi Hasija, Adv. Mr. Nitya Nambair, Adv, Mr. Vitso Rio, Adv.
NCT Delhi Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR Ms. Abhilasha Bharti, Adv Mr. Sushant Dogra, Adv.
State of Mah. Mr. Sachin Patil AOR. Mr. Rahul Chitnis, Adv. Mr. Aaditya A. Pande, Adv Mr. Geo Joseph,Adv.
State of Jharkhand Ms. Pragya Baghel, Adv Ms. Pallavi Langar, AOR
State of Uttarakhand Ms. Rachana Srivastava, AOR Mr. Ashutosh Sharma,Adv.
State of Sikkim Mr. Raghvendra Kumar, Adv. Mr. Anand Kumar Dubey, Adv. Mr. Narendra Kumar, AOR
State of M.P. Mr. Pulkit Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Pashupati Nath Razdan, Adv. Mr. Palav Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Ashutosh Kumar, Adv. Mr. Sudhanshu Kaushesh, Adv. Mr. K.P. Jayaram, Adv. Mr. Astik Gupta, Adv. Ms. Maitreyee Jagat Joshi, Adv.
State of Guwahati Mr. Abhimanyu Tewari, AOR
U.T. of Chandigarh Mr. Ankit Goel, AOR Mr. R. K. Gupta, Adv. Ms. Sneha Kalita, AOR Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Ms. Uttara Babbar, AOR M/S. Knc, AOR Mr. Ajay Pal, AOR By Courts Motion, AOR Mr. Gaurav Agrawal, AOR Ms. Mukti Chowdhary, AOR Mr. Sumeer Sodhi, AOR Ms. K. Enatoli Sema, AOR Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR Mr. Sandeep Kumar Jha, AOR Ms. Taruna Ardhendumauli Prasad, AOR Ms. Pallavi Langar, AOR Mr. Pai Amit, AOR Mr. M. Yogesh Kanna, AOR Mr. Raj Bahadur Yadav, AOR Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR Ms. Pinky Behera, AOR Mr. Ankit Goel, AOR Ms. Anindita Pujari, AOR Ms. Astha Sharma, AOR Ms. Jaspreet Gogia, AOR Mr. Ajay Pal, AOR Dr. Monika Gusain, AOR Mr. Narendra Kumar, AOR Mr. Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, AOR M/S. Plr Chambers And Co., AOR Mr. Himanshu Tyagi, AOR Ms. Diksha Rai, AOR Mr. Chirag M. Shroff, AOR Mr. Nirnimesh Dube, AOR Mr. Sachin Patil, AOR Mr. Abhimanyu Tewari, AOR Mr. V. G. Pragasam, AOR Mr. Manish Kumar, AOR Ms. Rachana Srivastava, AOR Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Avijit Mani Tripathi, AOR Mrs. Swarupama Chaturvedi, AOR Mr. Gopal Singh, AOR Ms. Garima Prashad, AOR Mr. S.. Udaya Kumar Sagar, AOR Mahesh Thakur, AOR Mr. V. N. Raghupathy, AOR Mr. G. Prakash, AOR Ms. G. Indira, AOR M/S. Knc, AOR

IMPORTANT POINT
Protection and Care of Covid Orphans must be top priority of State.

Headnote:

Corona Pandemic – Protection and Care of Covid Orphans – [Section 3 of Commission for protection of Child Rights Act, 2005] – There are 9346 such children who have either been abandoned, lost both parents or lost one parent – According to available information pertaining the scheme ‘PM Cares for Children” which was announced by Prime Minister on 29.05.2021, children who have lost both parents or surviving parent or legal guardian/adopted parents during Covid-19 shall be beneficiaries of aid from Central Government – As particulars of scheme are not available, Union of India directed to furnish necessary details about scheme announced by Prime Minister on 29.05.2021 – Union of India shall also furnish information relating to mechanism that would be adopted for distribution of benefits as well as details of scheme including identification of beneficiaries of scheme – State Governments directed to nominate a Nodal Officer at level of Secretary/Joint Secretary of concerned department to interact with Amicus Curiae – They shall provide all necessary information relating to identification of orphans/CNCP’S and action taken by District authorities for welfare of such children – Amicus Curiae shall submit a detailed report thereafter to this Court along with his suggestions about measures to be adopted further in interest of orphans/CNCP’s. (Paras 1, 3, 4 and 5)

Facts of the case:

District authorities were directed to take immediate steps to attend to the basic needs of the children who have become orphans after 1.04.2020. The NCPCR which is a statutory body constituted under Section 3 of Commission for protection of Child Rights Act, 2005 has filed an affidavit in which available data of children who have lost either of the parents or lost both the parents including those children who have been abandoned has been provided.

Findings of Court:

Amicus Curiae shall submit a detailed report thereafter to this Court along with his suggestions about the measures to be adopted further in interest of orphans/CNCP’s.

Result : Directions issued. Matter Listed for further consideration on 7-6-2021.

ORDER

1. On 28.05.2021, we directed all the district authorities to upload the information of children who have become orphans after March, 2020 on the portal of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights ’Bal Swaraj’ before the evening of 29.05.2021. The district authorities were directed to take immediate steps to attend to the basic needs of the children who have become orphans after 1.04.2020. The NCPCR which is a statutory body constituted under Section 3 of the Commission for protection of Child Rights Act, 2005 has filed an affidavit in which the available data of children who have lost either of the parents or lost both the parents including those children who have been abandoned has been provided. As per Table (A) which is annexed to the affidavit, there are 9346 such children who have either been abandoned, lost both parents or lost one parent.

2. Ms.Swarupama Chaturvedi, learned counsel appearing for the NCPCR submits that the District authorities have not been able to provide the complete information relating to the children who have been affected by the loss of either of the parents or one parent during the pandemic. The time given to the District authorities to upload the information before 29.05.2021 is extended till 05.06.2021 evening. NCPCR is directed to collate the information and file an affidavit by 06.06.2021 evening.

3. Mr. Sachin Patil, learned counsel appearing for the State of Maharashtra, learned counsel appearing for the State of Rajasthan submits that the District authorities are finding it difficult to comply with the requirement of providing information for the six stages. Ms. Swarupama Chaturvedi, learned counsel submits that the basic information required according to stage I and II is sufficient. The other information required is not necessary to be provided at this stage.

4. The learned Amicus in his note referred to a scheme ‘PM Cares for Children” which was announced by the Prime Minister on 29.05.2021. According to the available information pertaining the scheme, children who have lost both the parents or surviving parent or legal guardian/ adopted parents during Covid-19 shall be the beneficiaries of aid from the Central Government. As the particulars of the scheme are not available, the learned Amicus Curiae submitted that the Union of India be directed to furnish the necessary details about the scheme announced by the Prime Minister on 29.05.2021.

5. Ms.Aishwarya Bhati, learned Additional Solicitor General undertakes to provide the details of the scheme including the identification of the beneficiaries of the said scheme. The Union of India shall also furnish information relating to the mechanism that would be adopted for distribution of the benefits. The learned amicus submitted that a large number of States/Union Territories have filed their notes and reports in response to the notice that were issued on 28.05.2021. The learned Amicus Curiae requested the court to direct the State governments/ Union Territories to appoint a Nodal Officer at the level of Secretaries, Joint Secretaries of the concerned District who would interact with him and provide all the necessary information relating to identification of orphans/CNCP’s (Children in Need of Care and Protection) the steps taken for alleviating the pain and sufferings of the children. The learned Amicus Curiae identified 10 States which are the States of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand to start with, for such an exercise to be completed before next Monday i.e. 07.06.2021. The above State Governments are directed to nominate a Nodal Officer at the level of Secretary/Joint Secretary of the concerned department to interact with the learned Amicus Curiae. They shall provide all necessary information relating to the identification of the orphans/CNCP’S and the action taken by the District authorities for the welfare of such children. The learned Amicus Curiae


Click Here to Read the rest of this document
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Judicial Analysis

SupremeToday

SupremeToday Portrait Ad
supreme today icon
logo-black

An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers

Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance

qr

Scan Me!

India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!

For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :

whatsapp-icon Back to top