A Bench led by Justice Vikramjit Sen had said “...there is at least one minor girl kidnapped every day. It is heart-rending that organised gangs abduct children, mostly minor girls, and introduce them into begging”.

However, counsel for the investigating agency Harish Gulati told the High Court the CBI was an “investigating agency” and acts only on “specific complaints or court directions”.

“We already have 255 cases of suicides with us. We do not have the workforce to investigate each and every case,” Gulati said.

The debate was initiated by amicus curiae Rajeev Awasthi, who pointed out that there was hardly any effort from investigating agencies to bust organised abduction gangs which use children for begging.

“The last report filed by the CBI was pn July 19, 2006, identifying gangs operating in the northern regions, including Delhi. Since then, no further efforts have been taken to arrest the crime,” Awasthi said.

Though the agency document records 30,000 reported kidnappings, with 376 gangs involved in ransom kidnapping, 80 initiating their victims into prostitution and 14 into begging, only five gang members—Kulwant, Rakesh, Ved Prakash, Vinod and Sarfaraj Hussein—are listed under “kidnapping minors for the purpose of begging”.

All five are undertrials and released on bail, the 2006 report last records of them.

To illustrate his point that gangs continue their work unhindered, the amicus referred to an incident when the police had rounded up 500 “girls” in a raid on GB Road. “Of the 500 girls, 200 were minors,” he said.

Reacting to Awasthi’s submission, the court turned to the CBI observing that the very fact such gangs operate in the Capital hints at a nexus with the police.

“The CBI has all the information. Why can’t you investigate this nexus? You can walk into any office and conduct a raid. Why do you not do it?” asked the Bench, adding that it was “high-time the problem was addressed”.

The court directed the amicus to point out by April 28, the next date of hearing, details of gangs identified by the agency in the 2006 report.