SC asks Centre to respond to PIL for setting up DNA, biometric ID system for missing, rescued kids

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Centre and the NCPCR on a PIL seeking a direction to the Government to set up a national DNA and biometric identification system for missing and rescued children to facilitate scientific identification, tracing and reunification with their families.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana asked the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to respond to the petition filed by Reepak Kansal.

The PIL sought directions to the Centre and all the states and union territories (UTs) to create a centralised system, backed by statutory safeguards, for DNA and biometric identification of missing and rescued children with proper statutory safeguards, to enable scientific matching and restoration of identity.

Kansal has sought a direction to the authorities to conduct mandatory DNA sampling, subject to due safeguards and consent protocols, of all unidentified rescued children and willing biological parents and guardians of missing children for the purpose of reunification and identity confirmation.

“Direct integration and interoperability of all existing child protection databases, including police records, shelter homes, Child Welfare Committees, and Anti-Human Trafficking Units, under a centralised and real-time national framework,” the PIL submitted.

The petitioner has demanded constitution of a national and state-level child protection and anti-trafficking task force to ensure mandatory interstate coordination, time-bound investigation, rescue and rehabilitation of missing and trafficked children.

Kansal wanted the Government to frame and notify Standard Operating Procedure for tracing DNA testing, reunification, rehabilitation, compensation and long-term monitoring of rescued children, besides mandatory DNA verification of children proposed for adoption against national records before completion of the adoption process, subject to a regulated and privacy-compliant framework.

Such verification would help establish the authenticity of a child's identity and prevent illegal adoption, trafficking and misrepresentation, he contended.

The PIL wanted the top court to order periodic compliance affidavits from the authorities, detailing the number of missing children, DNA samples collected, matches established, reunifications completed, prosecutions launched and rehabilitation measures undertaken.

As 47,000 children remain untraced across India, the Supreme Court had in May directed police authorities to immediately register FIRs in cases of missing persons mandatorily incorporating the relevant Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provision on kidnapping to ensure seriousness in investigation and avoid procedural delays and uncertainty.

Expressing displeasure over the rise in the number of cases of missing children often at the behest of organised interstate trafficking syndicates, a Bench led by Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah had ordered police chiefs of states and union territories to ensure that anti-human trafficking units were made fully functional in four weeks with adequate powers and infrastructure for effective enforcement.

The Bench, which included Justice R Mahadevan, had directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to establish an all-India grid connecting each police station in the country on one platform having a special portal dedicated to human trafficking, including missing children and women.

It had asked the MHA to integrate databases maintained by different organizations and facilitate real-time sharing of information between police authorities, Child Welfare Committees (CWCs), District Child Protection Units (DCPUs) and child care institutions.