Mangaluru: Cong leader's car damaged by miscreants in Ullal

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.

Udupi, Mar 31: Six people have committed suicide since liquor shops were shut down during a lockdown here to break the chain of the novel coronavirus.

Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesha said in a statement here, "After continuous suicides out of depression over not being able to buy alcohol, the district administration decided to hold counselling sessions to such people.

"The district administration has appointed a team of Doctors for counselling. Anyone who needs counselling can call 1077 toll-free number," he added.

Madikeri, Jan 16: Income Tax Department officials on Thursday raided the residence of Kannada actress Rashmika Mandanna at Virajpet in Kodagu District on Thursday.

About 10 IT officials arrived at the residence on Thursday at about 1930 hrs and started searching. The officials have been busy conducting the raid for more than three hours now.

I-T sources said that the search and seizure operations were conducted on suspicion that Rashmika Mandanna had evaded taxes.

Mandanna, 23, is a leading heroine and has acted in several Kannada and Telugu films over the last four years. Her most recent film Sarileru Neekevvaru opposite Mahesh Babu is in the theatres now.

She made her debut in Sandalwood with the film Kirik Party, which was a huge success at the box office. She went on to act in several Kannada and Telugu films in the last two years and has become a huge success in the industry. She has acted in Dear Comrade, Sarileru Neekevvaru, Chalo, Geeta Govindam, Chamak, Yajamana, Anjani Putra and Vritra.

She is currently working in the film Pogaru alongside Dhruva Sarja. She has acted in nine movies in the last two years and has also signed several advertising contracts.