New Delhi, February 18 The Delhi High Court on Wednesday reprimanded the Delhi government for "attempting to justify" the delay of over two and a half years in appointing the chairperson and members in the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) and said the matter would be "taken seriously" if the vacant posts are not filled by the second week of April.
"Since July 2023 until February 2026, you are taking time and then you are justifying that it is essential for maintaining transparency in the selection process... More than one year has elapsed, and you are trying to justify it," remarked a bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia.
Asking the Delhi government to "re-think", the bench observed that it was at a "complete loss of words" on the authorities' failure to ensure that the commission remained functional after 2023.
The Delhi government filed an affidavit to state that the process of appointment of the chairperson and members was likely to be concluded by the second week of April, and the delay was essential to ensure transparency and selection of the most suitable candidate.
The government counsel assured the court that the matter was "progressing" and April second week was the "outer limit".
"This simply shows your attitude... Keep on progressing at a snail's pace. Scrap the (DCPCR) Act," the court remarked.
Mulling taking "stricter action" in the matter, the court asked how the authorities were taking around three years to finalize a "simple appointment".
"An attempt has been made to justify the delay in filling up the vacancies. The vacancies occurred way back in July 2023 and even after the expiry of two years and seven months, vacancies have not been filled yet. If such a long period of time is essential to maintain transparency and fairness and to ensure that most suitable candidates are appointed, in our opinion, the state government will have to re-think," said the court.
"We caution that in case the process is not completed, as stated by the GNCTD, the matter will be taken seriously. We hope and expect that the statement made in the affidavit shall be honoured and the process shall be completed by the second week of April 2026. List on the third Wednesday of April," the court stated.
The court said the delay in appointment contradicted the legislative mandate.
The counsel appearing for one of the petitioners highlighted that DCPCR was also entrusted with the task of monitoring the implementation of the POCSO Act and the Juvenile Justice Act.
She further highlighted the data on missing children, saying twelve children were going missing every day in the capital between January 1 to 15, and submitted that DCPCR had a robust system of volunteers, ex-army men, teachers who were involved in such cases to assist the police and public.
"All such projects have fallen flat..For the past three years, there is no one that is monitoring the government in the implementation of these acts. It suits everyone. The situation is very unfortunate. People have nowhere to go," the lawyer contended.
In the petition filed in 2024, Petitioner National Child Development Council said DCPCR was functioning without a chairperson since July 2, 2023 and keeping the vacant for so long was clearly a violation of provisions of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights Rules.
On February 6, the court had asked the Delhi government counsel to seek instructions on how much "minimum time" was required to complete the process of selection.