New Delhi, Sept 4 : The Delhi High Court today directed the National Capital Territory (NCT) government to formulate a scheme to prevent harassment of minor children after being employed in households.

The court order came following a letter received from the Chairperson of Child Welfare Committee (CWC) challenging a Metropolitan Magistrate''s order dismissing its application for a baby''s custody and allowing a couple to adopt a baby whose mother was a minor maid and a rape victim.

Expressing concern over the growing number of cases relating to exploitation of minors, a Division Bench of Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S Muralidhar said, "The monitoring of functioning of placement agencies would have to be undertaken on a far more rigorous scale to ensure that minors are not allowed to be employed and placed in households.”

The Bench added, “We would suggest to the government of National Capital Territory to seek the involvement of the Child Rights Commission at the Centre and State level to formulate a scheme in the area."

With an aim to provide free legal aid to the minors under the Juvenile Justices Act, the Bench also recommended that the Legal Services Authorities constitute a special panel of advocates with the requisite degree of sensitivity for such cases on a daily basis in the proceedings in the Juvenile Justice Board and the CWC. (ANI)