CHENNAI: Observing that the plight of children continued to remain more or less the same for the past 15 years despite amendments to the Child Rights Act, Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur today said it was high time that their rights were recognised.
“The area which was neglected during the last several years was about the rights of the children and the manner in which they have to be looked after. The plight of children continues to remain more or the same for the past about 15 years, despite amendments to the Child Rights Act”, he said.
Speaking at a national conference on “Women and Children” organised by Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy here, Justice Lokur said while there has been a change in the mindset of society with regard to women, but the same was lacking in so far as the children were concerned.
Though there is a realisation now that men and women should be treated equally, people were not aware about the rights of children properly.
He said that during the last several years women were able to empower themselves and be aware of their rights in society, including entry to mosques and temples.
The area which was troubling women and children was social media and cyberspace. “We have to see whether there is a mechanism to control this,” the judge said.
Though people say social media was a wonderful platform, there were stories that some websites in India were hacked by persons outside the country.
“However, if we keep the cyberspace away, we have to go back again to 15 or 20 years back,” he observed.
Chief Justice of Madras High Court Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, in his presidential address at the two-day conference, said there could be as many laws as one wants with regard to women and children.
“We should be able to enforce the laws and see its implementation properly. We have to work together to see that the rights of women and children are protected”, he said. (AGENCIES)
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