The JWB has also hauled up and fined a non-governmental organisation for exploiting the boy for publicity, even though the case was pending with the court. Poverty compelled Suresh (name changed to protect identity) to leave the comfort of home in Bihar and work in a girls' hostel in the Capital. He was never paid all the money due to him.

Even after the 12-year-old was rescued from bonded labour at the hostel, he continued to be exploited. The NGO which was supposed to look after him -- while the case was pending with the JWB -- held a press conference and put Suresh on display. This, said the board, violated the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986.

The owner of the South Delhi hostel -- Mukesh Prabhakar -- has been fined Rs 18,900 for withholding the boy's salary for nine months. If he does not pay the fine within 15 days, he will have to undergo 15 days'simple imprisonment. The board also imposed a fine of Rs 200, payable within 15 days, on the South Asian Coalition On Child Servitude (SACCS). The JWB held SACCS chairman Kailash Satyarthi guilty of producing the boy before the national media, saying it was done only to gain publicity.

Admitting that the board took a lenient view, JWB Chairman Dr B S Gahlaut said this was only because the NGO was instrumental in bringing Suresh before the board. The order states: ``We observed that juvenile ... remained in the custody of their own organisation and no steps were taken to locate the parents of the juvenile, instead, the organisation chairman and the gen secy were busy in harvesting the fruits of the publicity at the cost of the juvenile.'' The board cited Sec 36 (1) of the Juvenile Justice Act, 1986, which states that no report in any newspaper, magazine or newssheet of any inquiry regarding a juvenile under the Act shall disclose the name, address, school or any other particulars calculated to lead to thejuvenile's identification, without appropriate authority's permission.