The District and Sessions Judge (Northwest & North) issued a circular clarifying that the directive regarding the creche facilities at Rohini Courts Complex “was never issued with the intent to discriminate anyone” and “rather the spirit was to extend the facility to all with an effort to maintain high standards of hygiene”.
The clarification came after an earlier directive led to widespread protests from within the legal community and outside. The earlier directive has stated that the crèche facility will be available to court staff only “if the children of judges are not available” and provided “the children are neat, clean, hygiene is maintained and are free from disease”.
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On Tuesday, the new circular said “all judicial officers and the court staff would be at liberty to make use of the creche facility”.
“Those desirous may inform the office in advance as there is a space constraint. It is also made clear that the previous circular was never issued with the intent to discriminate against anyone and rather the spirit was to extend the facility to all with an effort to maintain high standards of hygiene…” the order issued by District Judge (North) Pradeep Chaddah and District Judge (Northwest) Yogesh Khanna.
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All girls in the age group of 2.5 years to 12 years and boys in the age group of 2.5 to 9 years may be maybe kept at the creche. On Tuesday, All India Parents Association said, “The circular issued is reminiscent of the racist outlook of the colonial era. It seeks to segregate children on the basis of parental hierarchical position in the establishment and exhibits the class prejudices of the issuing authority towards the children of lower-ranked employees.”
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
