DELHI HIGH COURT: ORGANISED TRAFFICKING OF NEWBORNS THROUGH DECEPTION AND SALE AMOUNTS TO EXPLOITATION UNDER SECTION 370 OF IPC
In a significant order, Dr. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the Delhi High Court has dismissed the bail plea of an accused alleged to be part of an organised child trafficking syndicate. While the case itself arose out of an FIR concerning suspected trafficking of newborn babies, the Court’s detailed observations go beyond the immediate bail application, touching upon the meaning of “exploitation” under Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code and the grave social repercussions of such offences.
The Court observed that the case reveals a disturbing picture of newborn children being commodified and treated as tradable objects. According to the prosecution, the accused persons, including the applicant, projected themselves as a childless couple desirous of adoption and misled poor and vulnerable parents into handing over their infants. In reality, the babies were allegedly sold to other accused who circulated their images on WhatsApp and offered them to prospective buyers through video calls and bidding.
Rejecting the applicant’s contention that there was no “exploitation” involved, Justice Sharma held that such acts squarely fall within the meaning of exploitation under Section 370 of IPC. She noted that although Explanation 1 to Section 370 refers to physical or sexual exploitation, slavery, servitude, or removal of organs, the definition is inclusive in nature. The Court emphasized that when the legislature uses the word “include,” the scope of the definition is left broad and not exhaustive.
On this reasoning, the Court concluded that the deception practised upon poor parents, the fraudulent procurement of custody of newborns, and the subsequent sale of such infants for money amounts to exploitation, even if it does not fit neatly into traditional forms of physical or sexual exploitation. The very act of reducing newborn children to commodities traded to unknown buyers was, in the Court’s view, nothing short of exploitation.
Justice Sharma also highlighted the vulnerability of the victims. In this case, it was not only the infants who were exploited but also their biological parents - poor and illiterate - who were misled into believing that their children would be placed in better environments. Instead, their trust was betrayed, and their infants were sold further into a trafficking network for profit. The Court also highlighted the grave social repercussions of such crimes. Selling newborn children through WhatsApp calls and bidding processes, Justice Sharma observed, raises alarming questions about who the buyers are and for what purposes the infants are being purchased. Such uncertainty exposes children to serious risks of neglect, abuse, forced labour or worse, underscoring the urgent need to treat such conduct as grave exploitation under law.
In conclusion, while dismissing bail, the Court observed that newborns being treated as merchandise and traded for money presents a grim reality of exploitation of the most vulnerable members of society. The order is an attempt to send a strong message that trafficking of infants, whether or not involving physical abuse at the first stage, constitutes exploitation under law and must be dealt with firmly.
Read Judgment here: https://delhihighcourt.nic.in/app/showFileJudgment/SKS09092025BA19532025_184454.pdf