SC slams Bihar for 'very selective' action on Muzaffarpur horror accuse

The Supreme court on Tuesday slammed the Bihar government for being very selective in taking action against those accused of being involved in the sexual and other abuses of children and indicated that it would hand over to the CBI investigation into all the cases of child abuse in the shelter homes of the stateYour state has been very selectivecatch this and leave others said the bench of Justice Madan B Lokur Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice Deepak Gupta in the course of hearing of Muzaffarpur shelter home rape caseAsking the counsel for Central Bureau of Investigation CBI to take instruction on taking over the investigation into nine cases of child abuse at shelter homes in Bihar Justice Lokur told the counsel for Bihar government Let CBI do it Your policesorry cant arrest people cant file chargesheetThe court vents its ire and said that all the cases would go to the CBI after it was told that of the nine cases where the Chief Secretary has expressed grave concern FIR has been filed in only five casesThe Chief Secretary was present in the court pursuant to October 12 direction of the courtPointing to the widespread mismanagement of the shelter homes for children the top court by its October 12 order had directed for the presence of the Chief Secretary to explain what remedial steps were being taken and the effect of those stepsApparently miffed over the manner in which cases of grave concern are being selectively dealt with Justice Lokur said What is the nature of grave concerndefinition of grave concern How you understand this Tell us we will also understandAs the counsel for Bihar government Gopal Singh told the bench that in the remaining four cases it may not constitute an offence without mincing words Justice Lokur told the Chief Secretary to know what was happening in the state administration under himJustice Gupta cited sections 323 325 406 407 of the Indian Penal Code and the provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences POCSO that were attracted in all the cases of children abuse at shelter homes in BiharJustice Gupta wondered how the offences attracting stringent provisions of criminal law were apparently overlooked and the accused were booked for lesser offencesThe counsel for CBI which is investigating the Muzaffarpur shelter home child abuse cases told the court There could not be more heinous crime Some children in shelter homes are being developed as trained soldiers who are used to punish other children not obeying the dictates of the caretakers of shelter homesHe cited the instance of a child who happened to be a good cook but his face was gashed with threeinch wound after he refused to cook food for those running the shelter homePeeved over the way things were happening in the shelter homes in Bihar Justice Lokur said We expect standards of a reasonable person and not higher standards We dont know what your standards areThe matter is listed for hearing on Wednesday when CBI will tell the court on taking up rest of the shelter home child abuse cases in BiharAnother counsel Shekhar Naphade said There is much more to it than meets the eyeCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Except for the change in the headline the story has been provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE without any verification or editing from our side Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever