SC issues notices to Centre on PIL seeking ban on employment of children in orchestras, spas

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Centre, child rights body NCPCR, and the NHRC on a PIL seeking an absolute ban on the employment of children and adolescents in orchestras, dance troupes, massage parlours, and spas.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi took note of the submissions of senior advocate H S Phoolka, appearing for child rights collective 'Just Rights for Children Alliance' (JRCA), and issued the notices to Union ministries of labour and law and justice.

Phoolka argued that minor girls aged 10 and 11 years were being employed in orchestras and dance bars. "For spas and massage parlours, some states have made rules of 18 years as the minimum age," he said.

Terming the situation "serious", the bench also issued notices to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the PIL.

"Issue a writ of mandamus or appropriate directions directing the Central Government… to exercise its powers under Section 4 of the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, to include the employment or performance of children below 18 years in orchestras, dance bars, dance troupes, nautanki performances, massage parlours, spas, and salons, or any similar establishments that depict children in obscene or exploitative manner in Part A of the Schedule to CALPRA, thereby categorically prohibiting such employment," the plea said.

The petition alleged that these sectors had evolved into "clandestine fronts" for organised trafficking, sexual exploitation, and forced labour of minor girls across the country.

The petition, filed by the JRCA through Advocate Sonali Jain, highlighted a critical "enforcement vacuum" in the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act (CALPRA), 1986.

Under the law, "hazardous" occupations where adolescent labour is strictly prohibited are listed under Part A of the CALPRA Schedule.

However, massage parlours and spas currently fall under Part B, meaning the employment of adolescents (aged 14-18) is merely "regulated" rather than banned.

Furthermore, the "orchestra" and "dance troupe" sectors, notoriously prevalent in states like Bihar and West Bengal, remain entirely unlisted, it said.

The PIL said traffickers exploit this statutory ambiguity to disguise the commercial sexual exploitation of children as "lawful employment" in the entertainment and wellness industries.

It provided data from rescue operations conducted between March 2025 and May 2026 and said 212 minors were rescued from orchestras and dance groups in Bihar and West Bengal. It further said 12 minors were rescued from massage parlours and spas in Delhi and Rajasthan.

The victims, some as young as 12, were lured from impoverished communities with false promises of "glamour," dance training, or film roles, it said.

In reality, many were sold to operators for sums ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000, forced into debt bondage, and compelled to perform in "sexually provocative attire" before intoxicated audiences.

The petitioner cited a 2023 report by the Bharatiya Institute of Research and Development (BIRD), which found that 44.04 percent of all identified trafficking victims in India are minors, and that spas are frequently used as fronts for "disguised sexual exploitation".