IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE SEVENTEENTH DAY OF JANUARY TWO THOUSAND AND FIVE PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI DEVINDER GUPTA,THE CHIEF JUSTICE and THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE M.NARAYANA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 7204 of 1999 Between: Peoples Union for Civil Liberties ( PUCL ), Rep. by General Secretary, Jaya Vindhyala D/o.V.Krishna Reddygaru Office No.9-MIGH, Mehdiptnam, Hyderabad, A.P. ..... PETITIONER AND The Secretary to Govt. Women Development & Child Welfare Dept. Secretariat, Hyderabad. (Original Respondent is Deleted and this Respondent is impleaded as party respondent as per Court Order dt 21.12.99 in WPMP No.31588/99) .....RESPONDENT Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to issue an appropriate writ order or direction, U/Art. 226 of the Constitution of India, particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, directing the State Govt. to constitute a Special Committee immediately to visit tribal areas in our state to find out the economic condition and to take immediate steps for providing minimum livelihood by appropriate schemes and to monitor the progress of the same and also to appoint a Special Officer for protecting the children, who are taken from the so- called NGOs, after calling for the records and to pass such other order or orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.PRATTIPATI VENKATESWARLU Counsel for the Respondent: GP FOR WOMEN DEV. & CHILD WELFARE The Court made the following Oral Order: (per Sri Devinder Gupta, CJ) Petition is filed as “Public Interest Litigation” by the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties represented by its General Secretary, alleging that when the Working Committee of the petitioner visited some places of Nalgonda District, enquiry revealed that down trodden and helpless tribal women were selling their children. The condition of the women was found to be sorrowful and they were found to be living in a very pitiable condition. It is stated that when the team visited various parts of Nalgonda District, the Tribals offered to sell their children even to the members of the Petitioner- Committee. In this background, the writ petition was filed seeking direction against the respondents to constitute a Special Committee to visit the Tribal areas and to assess the economic condition and take immediate steps for providing minimum livelihood. Learned counsel for the respondent has brought to our attention that there was some newspaper report published in March, 1999 under the caption “Child trafficking in Andhra Pradesh”. Police, Nalgonda registered a case. Cases were also registered at various other places. The Government, thereafter, handed over all those cases to the C.B.C.I.D., which were stated to be at that time under investigation. In the meanwhile, this Court had suo-motu taken up the said news item as Writ Petition No. 7071 of 1999 and orders were passed on 13.4.1999 and 19.4.1999 that the children should be taken care of by the Women Development and Child Welfare Department of A.P. Accordingly, the Commissioner, Women Development and Child Welfare Department took over the children and from the two organizations, namely, GSGSW and ASD, Hyderabad. Some of the children were found to be suffering from various diseases and they were admitted to various hospitals. Status report was stated to have been filed in the said Writ Petition. Thereafter, the children were kept under the care of Women Development and Child Welfare Department and under the management of SOS, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. In view of the fact that on the same subject, Writ Petition No.7071 of 1999 was taken up by this Court suo-motu and directions were issued, we accordingly close this petition with liberty reserved to the petitioner, in case, there will be any other grievance on this subject to make a mention in Writ Petition No. 7071 of 1999. The writ petition is accordingly closed. No costs. ____________________ DEVINDER GUPTA, CJ Date: 17th January, 2005 _______________________ M. NARAYANA REDDY,J pnb To 1. The Secretary to Government, Women Development & Child Welfare Dept. Secretariat, Hyderabad. 2. Two C.Cs. to the Government Pleader for Women and Child Welfare, High Court Buildings, Hyderabad. (OUT) 3. Two C.D. copies