Law & Justice

Supreme Court Orders Centre to Set Up Special Cell for Child Labour Act Enforcement

By PTI

The Supreme Court has ordered the Centre to establish a special cell to oversee the implementation of the Child Labour Amendment Act, 2016, which bans child labour in hazardous industries. A bench of Justices S. V. Bhatti and N. V. Anjaria directed the Ministry of Women and Child Development to issue instructions to enforcing agencies through the chief secretaries of the states. The bench said, "With a view to preserving the rights of children/adolescents, we direct the second respondent to constitute a special cell, continue to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Act and also issue direction to the enforcing agencies through the respective chief secretaries of the State, as amended through the Act No.35 of 2016." Advocates Prashant Bhushan and Pranav Sachdeva represented the petitioner NGO Health For Millions. The Child Labour Amendment Act, 2016 amended the original Child Labour Act of 1986 and came into force on 1 September 2016. It imposes a complete ban on child employment and prohibits the employment of children below 14 years in all occupations and processes. The 2009 petition challenged the constitutional validity of a proviso to Section 3 of the 1986 Act that allowed child labour in hazardous beedi‑rolling workshops as part of family labour and in government‑aided schools, and also sought directions for educational facilities and two mid‑day meals for such child workers. During the hearing, counsel for the Centre informed the bench that the amendment to the parent Act had addressed the petitioner’s grievance and that the petition should not be considered further. The court replied that the prayer in the writ petition does not survive for further consideration, but it emphasized that the amendment Act No. 35 of 2016 must be given full effect and that it is the respondent’s responsibility to ensure complete and strict compliance with the mandate of the Child and Adolescent Labour Act, 1986, including the amended provisions.