Srinagar: High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has sought details from the government with regard to the number of orphanages and the inmates currently therein.
While hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), a division bench of Chief Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Sanjay Dhar granted a month’s time to the government to file a status report in this regard. The court granted the time for filing of the status report after Deputy Advocate General Sheikh Feroz requested for the same.
The Court asked the government to furnish the information after senior advocate Bashir Ahmad Bashir as “amicus curiae” submitted that the orphanages were reportedly closed during the Covid period. “It is not clear how many inmates are currently there in these orphanages,” Bashir said.
He submitted that a direction was needed to get the information with regard to the current situation in these orphanages.
In 2015, the High Court had taken a suo-moto cognizance of a news report published in Greater Kashmir on poor facilities at government run orphanages, Markazi Falah-eItfal and Markazi Falah-e- Mastoorat at Nishat and had treated the report as PIL and initiated proceedings against the government.
In its report, the newspaper had highlighted the ugly picture of government-run children- home, Markazi Falai Itifal at Nishat on city outskirts for lacking basic healthcare facilities.
The report had said that the children were being deprived of basic rights with officials ostensibly forcing them to do menial jobs like washing clothes and sweeping the floor.
Since 2015 the court has issued a slew of directions with regard to various facilities existing in orphanages including all kinds of sports facilities at the children-home at Shalimar and the observation home at Harwan.