HC raps UP govt for pleading inability to provide infra to shelter homes
ALLAHABAD The Allahabad high court on Wednesday rapped the state government for pleading inability to provide basic infrastructure, including CCTV cameras, to shelter homes for the want of funds and asked it to give a deadline by which it would provide the facilities. Hearing the Deoria shelter home case, the bench comprising chief justice DB Bhosale and justice Yashwant Varma observed: “How can the state government say it cannot comply with the guidelines provided by law for the protection of children in shelter homes due to lack of funds.”
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ALLAHABAD : The Allahabad high court on Wednesday rapped the state government for pleading inability to provide basic infrastructure, including CCTV cameras, to shelter homes for the want of funds and asked it to give a deadline by which it would provide the facilities.
Hearing the Deoria shelter home case, the bench comprising chief justice DB Bhosale and justice Yashwant Varma observed: “How can the state government say it cannot comply with the guidelines provided by law for the protection of children in shelter homes due to lack of funds.”
The court said the state government should provide a deadline by which it would be able to provide basic infrastructure, including installation of CCTVs, in shelter homes across the state.
Additional advocate general Manish Goel filed an affidavit informing the court that disciplinary action had been initiated against 35 police officers who had sent 121 girls to Deoria shelter home despite knowing that its licence had been cancelled by the state government.
After going through the affidavit, the court said the manner in which girls were handed over to their guardians without proper verification showed carelessness of the officers concerned.
“Till now, no deterrent action has been taken against the policemen who sent girls to Deoria shelter home,” the court said, fixing September 24 as the next date of hearing.
On August 8, the court had taken suo motu cognizance of newspaper reports in connection with Deoria shelter home case and said it would monitor investigation into the alleged sexual harassment of inmates.
The police had raided Deoria shelter home on August 5 after a minor girl escaped from the home and informed the police about the horrible happenings going on there.
Police rescued 24 inmates during the raids.
Police arrested shelter home manager Girija Tripathi, her husband Mohan Tripathi and daughters Kanchan Lata
Tripathi and Kanak Lata Tripathi. In the last hearing, the court had asked the state government to inform it why CCTV cameras be not installed in all the shelter homes in the state.