MUMBAI: Days after a four-year-old was sexually assaulted by a school van driver in Badlapur, focus has shifted to a pending public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court that highlights a prolonged breakdown in Maharashtra’s child protection oversight mechanism.
Filed on September 29, 2025 by Mumbai-based education rights activist Nitin Dalvi, the petition states that the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has remained non-functional since May 4, 2025 due to vacancies in key posts, including that of a chairperson.
The PIL contends that the commission has been “defunct and absolutely non-operational since 04.05.2025, thereby leaving no mechanism of redressal for complaints of aggrieved children”. It argues that the paralysis is the result of an acute shortage of members, particularly the absence of a full-time chairperson.
Relying on a government notification dated May 15 and subsequent RTI replies, the petition claims that seven posts in the Commission fell vacant in May 2025. It further alleges that instead of appointing a chairperson as required, the government handed over the post as an “additional charge” to a senior IAS officer, a practice the PIL says is not permitted under the law and has previously been deprecated by the High Court.
The petition also cites an RTI response dated July 21 to state that 1,431 complaints are currently pending before the Commission. It warns that the continuing vacancies have left “no authority discharging the functioning of the said commission”, causing serious prejudice to children seeking statutory remedies.
Through its prayers, the PIL seeks directions to the state government to immediately appoint a full-time chairperson and members, and to make the commission operational within a fixed timeframe, in line with the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005.
Dalvi told Hindustan Times, which reviewed the petition, that the state’s failure to keep the commission functional had direct consequences for child safety and accountability. “The Maharashtra government has utterly failed to curb incidents of sexual abuse against minor children. The Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has remained vacant since May 2025, leaving no one in the commission to deliver justice,” he said.
Dalvi also said he had earlier sought police permission to hold an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan over the issue, but was denied permission. He added that unless urgent corrective steps are taken, he plans to proceed with the protest.
The PIL points out that the commission also has a statutory role in monitoring implementation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The matter is listed for hearing next on January 29.