Karnataka High Court to hold special hearing on children selling toys, flowers on streets

The High Court of Karnataka has decided to hold a special hearing with regard to children selling toys, flowers and other items at city traffic junctions.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka directed all the stakeholders to attend the special hearing to be conducted at the conference hall of the high court on February 18.

The bench was informed by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA) that a detailed survey, including identification of such children, is not possible without a coordinated effort involving all stakeholders.

During Friday’s hearing, the KSLSA member secretary submitted a progress report informing the bench that the Data Collection Teams (DCT) have undergone training on approaching and counselling such children and their
parents.

He said one more training session will be taken up before the teams start the actual work of the survey.

In one such meeting held on January 19, many government officers and NGO representatives remained absent, the member secretary stated.

Considering the importance of the survey, the court said it is necessary to secure the presence of all the stakeholders for a special hearing.

“To ensure that the work of the survey is done effectively it is necessary to procure the presence of all the stakeholders whose assistance is required. A list of officers shall be furnished by the member secretary (of KSLSA) to the Additional Government Advocate and the counsel representing the BBMP,” the court said.

The PIL filed by city-based organisation Letzkit Foundation stated that children are forced to sell toys, flowers and other things on the streets of Bengaluru city.

The court directed the KSLSA to convene a meeting of all the stakeholders to evolve a scheme to identify the children after both the BBMP and the state government failed to respond to the order to collect the data.