In the High Court

HC to decide status of street kidsMUMBAI, Oct 14: Some protection could come the way of Mumbai's countless faceless street children, as t...

HC to decide status of street kids

MUMBAI, Oct 14: Some protection could come the way of Mumbai8217;s countless faceless street children, as the Bombay High Court has taken up for final hearing a suo moto notice issued in the matter way back in 1985. The matter which first came up for hearing before the bench of the Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal last week, has now been adjourned to November 18, with the Bombay High Court having appointed advocate Mahroukh Adenwala as amicus curie friend of the court on the matter.

The suo moto notice was issued in 1985 by the division bench of Justice Masodkar and Justice J J Kotwal in a criminal petition of one Manju, who hailed from a village in Bilimoria, district Bulsar of Gujarat. Manju started working in Mumbai as a domestic since the age of 10. She was raped at the age of 14 years.

Shocked that such 8220;rootless and roofless8221; children were coming into the city, either being sent by their parents or on their own, without any kind of support system, where many ofthem were eventually subjected to crime, the Bombay High Court bench had then issued suo moto notices to the state government, the Gujarat state government, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC and the Union of India as well as non-governmental and social organisations to draw up a scheme for their protection. 8220;Prima facie, we are of the view that urgent steps need to be taken for the situation,8221; the bench had held in its various orders issued in the matter.

The points that the Bombay High Court bench had wanted to consider was whether it could direct a survey of the total number of such children in the city and also if the states from where these children come into the city could be 8220;subjected to the process of providing healthy conditions with regard to the freedom and dignity of such children8221;.

The bench had directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to give statistics on the number of such children in the city and had also suggested the setting up of a survey committee to study thethe various issues involved to suggest changes.

Ex-NEERI chief directed to inspect factory

The Bombay High Court today directed former director of the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute NEERI P L Khanna to inspect the factory premises of an asbestos sheet manufacturing company, Messrs Shakti Roofings Pvt Ltd and submit a report within 10 days. Till then the factory, that has been directed to stop functioning in an interim order by the high court, will remain closed.

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The directions were passed by the division bench of the Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justice S H Kapadia while hearing a public interest petition filed by an NGO in Pune, Ranjai, which through its secretary, Chandrasen Borhate had alleged that the state had not followed certain norms of the Environment Protection Act, while according it permission.

According to counsel for the petitioners, A V Anturkar, the factory was a pollution hazard and the state had not organised a public hearing on the environmentaleffects of the factory, as required under a clause of the Act. However, senior counsel Iqbal Chagla appearing on behalf of the factory argued that the manufacturers had never shied away from a public hearing. All the statutory requirements under the Act had been complied with, and if the public hearing was exempted, it was at the instance of the state, Chagla stated.

He added that the company was ready for a public hearing, but prayed that the company be allowed to be operated since it would otherwise cause an unbearable loss. A public hearing would take any time between three to five months, he argued.

The bench then directed that the former NEERI director inspect the premises and give a report within 10 days. If the report holds that the factory is not an environmental hazard, it would be allowed to operate with the MPCB holding a public hearing eventually. If it is found to be a potential hazard, the factory would remain closed till the public hearing and the report would be sent to the stategovernment for it to review its permission.

Ramlila at Malad to play on till 11.30 pm

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The Bombay High Court today directed that Ramlila, in the Ramlila grounds of Malad E can continue till 11.30 pm, on the lines of the restrictions for the Navratri festivities.

The directions were given by the division bench of Justice M B Ghodeswar and Justice S Radhakrishnan in a petition filed by the Shree Malad Ramleela Samiti that claimed that the restriction till 10 pm that was granted in an earlier HC order was stopping them from preaching the virtues of their religion.