Refusing bail to an alleged member of an interstate child trafficking racket, a Delhi court has delivered a scathing indictment of the growing menace of infant trafficking. The court observed that children cannot be treated as a commodity in a commercial market and warned that a lenient approach in such cases would endanger public safety.
Additional Sessions Judge Hargurvarinder Singh Jaggi of the Saket Courts dismissed the bail plea of Raj Kumar, who is accused of being part of a conspiracy to traffic a newborn girl born to an unmarried rape survivor. The court held that the allegations disclosed an organised, profit-driven network that preyed on vulnerable mothers and treated newborns as commodities.
According to the prosecution, the case began after the Delhi Police received information about the illegal adoption and trafficking of a baby girl born to an 18-year-old rape survivor. Investigators alleged that a housekeeping staff member at Safdarjung Hospital persuaded the victim's family to give away the child in exchange for money. The infant was allegedly passed through several intermediaries before reaching Raj Kumar and his wife, who allegedly sold the baby onward for profit. The child remains missing.
Rejecting the plea, the court observed that the material on record prima facie suggested the accused was not a passive bystander, but had acted in active concert and conspiracy with his wife to purchase the newborn, keep her briefly in their custody, and sell her for a profit of ₹1.65 lakh.
In one of the strongest observations in the order, the court said, “Child trafficking is a heinous scourge and an onslaught on the moral conscience of civilized society.” It further remarked that “children are the most vulnerable and precious members of our collective society, and their lives, liberty, and dignity cannot be subjected to a commercial market.”
The judge also noted that the alleged racket specifically targeted vulnerable women. Calling the alleged exploitation of a minor POCSO survivor particularly disturbing, the court observed that stripping such mothers of their newborns for financial greed is an act of unspeakable cruelty.
The prosecution argued that Raj Kumar and his wife were running a commercial enterprise dealing in newborn infants, and opposed bail on the grounds that three co-accused remain absconding and the missing infant has not yet been traced. It also alleged that the accused's wife has been involved in four similar child trafficking cases, suggesting a continuing pattern of criminal activity.
The court accepted these concerns, observing that releasing the accused at this stage could hamper the investigation, expose witnesses to intimidation, and increase the risk of absconding or repetition of the offence. It stressed that societal concern and the collective cry for the protection of innocent children must outweigh the individual liberty of the applicant in view of the grave allegations.
While reiterating the settled legal principle that bail proceedings are not a mini-trial, the court held that the seriousness of the allegations, the continuing investigation, and the fact that the victim's newborn remains untraced weighed heavily against the grant of bail. The application was accordingly dismissed, with the court clarifying that its observations would not influence the trial on merits.
