Daijiworld Media Network – Panaji

Panaji, Aug 11: The Bombay High Court at Goa has firmly supported El Shaddai Charitable Trust, ruling that neither the State nor the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) can block NGOs from caring for vulnerable children simply because they do not fall under the Juvenile Justice Act’s (JJ Act) definition of “children in need of care and protection.”

A division bench comprising Justices Bharati Dangre and Nivedita P Mehta, while hearing a public interest petition, found no illegality in the Trust running its Assagao shelter, House of Kathleen, for children not formally referred under the JJ Act.

The court reminded the State of its constitutional duty under Article 39 to ensure children grow in freedom, dignity, and opportunity — a responsibility extending beyond JJ Act coverage. It urged authorities to welcome support from credible NGOs with the infrastructure to provide such care.

The bench dismissed CWC’s allegations that El Shaddai housed children without authorization or misused their images online, noting that shared videos showed only “smiling faces” and daily activities without revealing identities or sensitive details.

The court also addressed El Shaddai’s plea to surrender its Child Care Institution registration under the JJ Act to operate under the Goa Children’s Act and as a non-JJ Act NGO. The Department of Women and Child Development was directed to decide on the matter within four weeks as per law.

Lauding the Trust’s decades of impressive work, the judges emphasized that NGOs stepping in to protect abandoned, economically disadvantaged, or vulnerable children should not face obstruction from the CWC.

This landmark verdict is expected to benefit many NGOs across Goa by clarifying that voluntary care beyond the JJ Act’s scope is lawful and constitutionally protected.