Commission for Protection of Child Rights to be constituted very soon: Govt tells HC

Srinagar, Jun 30: The government on Monday informed the High Court of J&K and Ladakh that the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights in Jammu and Kashmir would be constituted very soon.

As a Public Interest litigation (PIL) seeking the court’s intervention for the appointment of the members of the commission, came up for hearing before a division bench of Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal,   Senior Additional Advocate General, A R  Malik referred to the  status report dated May 29, 2025 which indicated that  the process as regards the scrutiny of the applications, received by concerned authority, is in progress.

The AAG submitted that not much time would be required to constitute the Commission.

In response to the submission by the Sr AAG, the bench deferred the proceedings by four weeks so that it would be apprised of the further progress made in this regard.  The Court adjourned the matter till August 13, the next date of hearing. In May J&K’s Secretary Social Welfare Department in keeping with a court direction, had appeared virtually before court and fairly admitted that the advertisement to select and appoint the members, as also the Chairperson of the Commission, was issued way back in June, 2023, but the process of selection was still at the nascent stage. Given the sensitivity of the matter, as also the considerable time already elapsed, the Secretary SWD prayed for time to furnish a specific affidavit indicating the precise time that is required to complete the selection process.

The Court had ordered that the affidavit was to be filed a week prior to June 2, the date when it would consider the PIL. The Court had observed that despite its repeated orders passed, the Commission for Protection of Child Rights, in terms of Section 44 of the Protection of the Child from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, had not been constituted. The Commission is to be set up in keeping with the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act, read with the Protection of Child Rights Act, and would have the power to inquire into the complaints and take suo moto notice of matters relating to deprivation and violation of child rights.

J&K Social Welfare Department has constituted a five Member Committee to recommend for appointment to the posts of Chairperson and Members, J&K Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The Committee previously convened two meetings on the issue and upon scrutinizing the applications received, the committee shortlisted three candidates for the post of Chairperson and four candidates for the post of members, with two candidates being considered for both posts. The committee after thorough deliberations recommended the eligibility criteria as well as process for the appointment to the posts to the competent authority, the approval for which is awaited.