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Bengaluru, July 23: The High Court of Karnataka has directed the state government to formulate Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for child protection, particularly for cases of child pornography and child missing.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice M Nagaprasanna passed a detailed order and asked the state government to submit compliance within three months.

The division bench passed the order on two PILs, including a suo motu litigation registered in 2018. The PILs were registered to ensure effective implementation of the directions of the Supreme Court on the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act).

The bench observed that in normal courses, courts do not issue writ of mandamus to the legislature on rule-making aspects. However, when the failure of the state is demonstrated under exceptional circumstances, courts can issue directions. The bench directed the state government to expedite the rule-making process to ensure proper implementation of the JJ Act.

The bench expressed displeasure on the insensitive police investigation in cases of child pornography. “The police machinery did not show the sensitivity expected from it while dealing with cases of alleged child pornography. Therefore, it will be appropriate if the state issues SOP or guidelines for dealing with cases of child pornography so that proper investigation is carried out in such cases. As we are directing the formation of SOP for dealing with child pornography cases, the state is also directed to formulate guidelines on child missing cases,” the bench said.

The bench had been issuing several directions since 2018 and has also been monitoring police investigations. The court observed that while the state government has incorporated several directions, some issues still remain unaddressed.

The bench directed the government to have dedicated staff for the Directorate of Integrated Child Protection Scheme considering the sensitive nature of work.

On working of Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB), the court asked the Registrar General of the Karnataka High Court to issue directions to the principal magistrates of all the JJBs in the state to sit on all working days for a minimum of six hours a day. 

The high court directed the state to exercise the rule-making powers for obtaining an annual report from the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

Bengaluru, Mar 23: Karnataka government today decided to go for complete lockdown. This includes the closure of all non essential government offices, suspension of all public transport services and banning of mass prayers in places of worships across the state.

Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had expressed the need for a complete lockdown like the Janta Curfew on Sunday. Going by this, there will be no government transport services at least till March 31 and as many as 19,000 government buses will be off the road.

The government also decided to cancel the famous Karaga festival. The CM said that all celebrations and functions will be called off along with mass prayers in mosques and churches.

The CM said that they have decided to procure 1,000 ventilators and 10 lakh face masks in addition to other health equipments.

Private hospitals have come forward to spare their doctors and nursing staff to attend to Covid-19 patients in government hospitals, the CM said.

Yediyurappa also said that he has directed the health department to paste notification on the houses of residents who are infected with coronavirus. This is being done after people with indelible seals and home quarantined are reported to be roaming freely. The notifications will help neighbours to keep an eye on them.

The CM said the government-run Indira Canteen will serve free food to the poor until the lockdown continues. He also said that action will be initiated against non essential shops that are open despite a directive to shut down.