 bill no lxiii of 2008 the girl child (prevention of trafficking and miscellaneous provisions) bill, 2008 a billto provide for the prevention of girl child trafficking through commercialised means bypushing or forcing the girl child for prostitution after luring, procuring or kidnapping and making her available for hiring or taking possession by her client for promiscuous sexual acts for commercial gains and for the rescue, rehabilitation and welfare of such girl child by the state and for matters connected therewith and incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-ninth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the girl child (prevention of trafficking and miscellaneous provisions) act, 2008short title, extent and commencement(2) it extends to the whole of india (3) it shall come into force with immediate effectdefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government of that state and in other cases the central government;(b) "commercialised trafficking" includes forcing the girl child into prostitution for earning money or using the girl child for any unlawful or immoral purpose, or procuring or supplying the girl child for such purpose or hiring or obtaining possession of the girl child for promiscuous sexual purposes;(c) "girl child" means a female human being who is below the age of eighteen years;(d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act;45 of 1860 104 of 1956(e) words and expressions used and not defined in this act but defined in the indian penal code, 1860, or the immoral traffic (prevention) act, 1956 shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in those acts3 (1) the trafficking of girl child for commercial purposes or for any purpose, whatsoever, in any manner is hereby prohibitedprohibition of trafficking of girl child(2) whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be guilty of an offence under this actpenalty4 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, whoever,—(a) abets or induces, by whatever means including emotional or by blackmailing a girl child into prostitution notwithstanding the family relation of such girl child with the accused or under any prevailing custom, shall be punished with life imprisonment and also with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees;(b) pushes or forces through coercive means, or by bearing or causing injury or such other cruel means a girl child into prostitution shall be punished with death;(c) lures, procures or kidnaps a girl child for trafficking purposes shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but may extend to life imprisonment and also with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees;(d) owns or runs a brothel having a girl child prostitute, such owner or manager shall be punished with life imprisonment and also with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees;(e) indulges in the immoral traffic of a girl child, or makes available a girl child for any unlawful or immoral purpose shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years but may extend to ten years and also with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees;(f) hires, procures or obtains possession of a girl child for promiscuous sexual intercourse with her shall be punished with life imprisonment and also with fine which shall not be less than five lakh rupees but may extend to ten lakh rupeesoffences to be cognizable5 notwithstanding anything contained in the code of criminal procedure, 1973, the offences under this act shall be cognizable and non-bailable6 (1) the offences under this act shall be tried by the special court or the fast track court, as the case may be(2) the trial of an offence committed under this act shall be held in cameraoffences to be tried by special and fast track courts(3) the appropriate government shall establish such number of special courts and fast track courts as it may deem necessary for the purposes of sub-section (1) and for the quick disposal of cases under this actrehabilitation and other welfare measures7 (1) the girl child covered under this act shall be rescued by the appropriate government through the local police or by a non-governmental organisation and produced before a magistrate or judicial officer so designated by such government so that she is suitably rehabilitated(2) the appropriate government shall extend welfare measures for the girl child rescued from flesh trade or who may be rendered out of profession after the commencement of this act and these welfare measures shall include free medical care, shelter, food, clothing and other necessities of life, free education including vocational education, gainful employment, marriage and such other measures as that government may deem necessary or as may be prescribed8 the central government shall, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, provide adequate funds, from time to time, for carrying out the purposes of this actcentral government to provide adequate funds act to have overriding effect9 the provisions of this act and rules made thereunder shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force10 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other law for the time being applicable to the subject matter of this actact to supplement other laws power to make rules11 the central government may, by  notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act statement of objects and reasonsthese days thousands of minor and adolescent girls go missing from various parts of the country every year and only a few fortunate ones are restored to their parents most of these hapless girls are either kidnapped or lured by organised gangs of criminals and pimps and then forced into prostitution girl child trafficking is going on in a very large scale mostly in the name of adventure tourism in many parts of our country which are tourist destinations the greed for more and more money is pushing more adolescent girls into flesh trade because they fetch large amount of money from their prospective clients who hire them for sexual pleasure in this large scale girl child trafficking, the pimps, organised gangs, underworld dons, brothel keepers, hoteliers, tour operators, etc are involved in many cases even the natural guardians and their near and dear ones have been found forcing the girl child into prostitution either due to prevailing customs or for the money involved therein for the trafficking purpose the girls are procured by whatever means be it kidnapping, luring on the pretext of getting employment for a comfortable and decent life-style or making heroine in a film or television serial or procuring from the unsuspecting poverty stricken parents particularly from the tribal and rural areas the girls are even brought in from neighbouring countries for trafficking many times, the unsuspecting girls elope with their so-called lovers who sell them off to the brothel keepers recently, it was reported in the media that pimps have become active in drought-prone areas of the country where farmers are committing suicide luring the girls of such tragedy stricken families promising them a decent life once the girls fall into their trap, they land into the world of flesh trade and sacrifice them at the altar of adventure tourism which is gaining momentum in the world including our country where the tourists indulge in promiscuous sex for fun and joy and they prefer girl child prostitutes by offering huge amounts though we cannot blame all the tourists for this but few tourists particularly the effluents ones do indulge in sex tourism but the ever increasing trafficking has put the lives of the girl child sex workers in constant danger of deadly aids and other sexually transmitted diseases but those responsible for their plight are least bothered for these hapless girlsthe time is ripe to take effective steps to save the girl child by dealing heavily with those who are responsible for their trafficking by providing deterrent penalty for them including capital punishmenthence this billgireesh  kumar  sanghi financial memorandumclause 6 of the bill provides for the establishment of special courts and fast track courts for trying the offences clause 7 provides for the rehabilitation of rescued girl child from prostitution clause 8 makes it obligatory for the central government to provide adequate funds for carrying out the purposes of the billthe bill, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of indiathough it is difficult to quantify the exact amount at this stage, it is estimated that a sum of rupees one thousand crore may involve as recurring expenditure per annuma sum of rupees four thousand crore may also involve as non-recurring expenditure from the consolidated fund of india memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 11 or the bill gives powers to the central government for making rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to matters of details onlythe delegation of legislative power is of normal character———— a billto provide for the prevention of girl child trafficking through commercialised means by pushing or forcing the girl child for prostitution after luring, procuring or kidnapping and making her available for hiring or taking possession by her client for promiscuous sexual acts for commercial gains and for the rescue, rehabilitation and welfare of such girl child by the state and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto—————(shri gireesh kumar sanghi, mp)