6 months, and abused kids don’t have a lawyer

On Friday, the the Sewri sessions court judge R Bhandurge wrote to the Law and Judiciary Department over its persistent failure to find a special prosecutor in what is now called the Anchorage Shelter child-abuse case.

Four prosecutors were appointed thus far, but citing varied problems, they have not appeared in court. So the trial has been repeatedly adjourned over the last six months.

Child-abuse charges against Grant and Waters were filed in 2001, but it was only with Waters’ extradition from New York to Mumbai in September 2004 that the case was committed to trial in November.

Grant was arrested in Tanzania last year after a report by a Tanzanian paper and The Indian Express alerted the Tanzanian police to his presence at a children’s home there.

With leading lawyer Majeed Menon defending the suspects, NGOs like Childline— who helped register the children’s complaints and believe Grant’s ‘shelters’ were a front for a paedophile racket—are keen that the government make special efforts.

‘‘If so much money can be spent in extradition of suspects, why not ensure a good prosecutor?’’ asked a member of Childline, which, unhappy with the calibre of one of the prosecutors, successfully demanded a change.

Another special public prosecutor, Kalpana Chavan, agreed to take the case but requested that the Anchorage trial be transferred to the city sessions court in Fort, where she was fighting other important cases.

But Memon opposed this.

Now, private lawyer J Madan has been approached: he has not yet told the court if he’s available.

Meanwhile, Waters and Memon are angry. ‘‘A fast-track trial cannot be adjourned repeatedly on flimsy grounds like the state prosecutor’s inconvenience,’’ said Memon. ‘‘How do I explain these delays to my client and the British High Commission?’’