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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.

Mangaluru, Mar 14: About 80 centres to check people for fever, cold, cough and other symptoms related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have been set up in the city, health officials said here on Saturday.

According to sources in district health department, apart from the testing centres at Wenlock District Hospital and Lady Goshen hospital, six centres in community health centres, 66 in primary health centres (PHC) and four in the taluk hospitals have been opened for people to get themselves checked if they show any COVID-19-related symptoms.

Two other testing centres are already working at the city’s airport and seaport.

Mangaluru, May 27: The Dakshina Kannada PU College Principals' Association on Wednesday appealed to the authorities to postpone the evaluation of PUC II answer scripts, as the Novel Coronavirus was still active and there was all possibility of the infection spreading.

Speaking to reporters here, Association President Umesh Karkera said, ''It is our duty to evaluate the answer scripts. But amid the fear of COVID-19 and lockdown, evaluators are not able to reach the valuation Centre to take up the work.

''The department of pre-university education has asked the Deputy Chief Examiners and the Assistant Examiners to reach the venue on May 27 and 29, respectively, to take up the evaluation work.