Bombay High Court seeks response from Maharashtra govt on plea to fill vacancies in State Commission for Protection of Child Rights

The Bombay High Court recently sought response from the Maharashtra government on the steps taken to appoint members to the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) [Nitin Dalvi & Anr. v. State of Maharashtra & Ors.]..A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice MS Karnik was informed of the grievance in the plea that the Commission was non-functional due to absence of requisite number of members.In response, Government Pleader Jyoti Chavan informed the Court that the process has been initiated in the right earnest to fill up the posts.She sought for 2 weeks to file an affidavit bringing on record the steps taken and are contemplated for appointment of the members.This was granted by the Court and the matter was posted for hearing on March 21, 2022..The SCPCR reviews and examines safeguards provided by law for protection of child rights and recommend measures for their effective implementation.The body also inquires into violation of child rights and recommend initiation of proceedings in such cases..The plea filed by Nitin Dalvi and Prasad Babaji Tulaskar, both parents, challenged the vacancies in the SCPCR claiming that the vacancies since May 2020 has rendered the SCPCR non-functional.Dalvi had submitted a complaint in 2021 and Tulaskar in 2016 about certain mishaps faced by their respective children in their private schools in Mumbai.However, through RTI queries, they both discovered that the last working day of the Commission had been in May 2020.The petitioners claimed that though advertisement had been issued inviting nomination for the post of chairperson and 6 members of the Maharashtra State Commission, as of December 2021, the position of the chairperson had been assigned as an additional charge to the Commissioner of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).The plea further contended that as per the response received to requests under Right to Information Act (RTI Act), the commission has 50% complaints pending since 2018-19, including the complaints filed by the petitioners.They also came to know that from 2015 to 2019 a total of 2,041 complaints were submitted and 1,145 out of them are pending..The plea filed through advocate Ronita Bhattacharya sought directions from the Court to immediately make appointments to the posts.The petitioner also requested the Court to direct the State to ensure that the Commission becomes operational within 2 months..[Read order]