Recasting Justice For Trafficked Survivors: A Commentary On Prajwala V. Union Of India And The Judicial Quest For A Human-Rights-Based Anti-Trafficking Framework In India
- IJLLR Journal
- Jul 14
- 1 min read
Bijetri Pathak, Assistant Professor, Sikkim Manipal University (CDOE)
Introduction
Human trafficking, especially for sexual exploitation, is one of the most serious human rights abuses in modern India. Albeit with constitutional bans under Article 23 and a plethora of penal laws, India is a source country, destination, and transit point for victims of human trafficking. "Here, the Prajwala v. Union of India case—filed at the behest of a public interest petition by Hyderabad-based NGO Prajwala in 2004—rises to be a classical judicial intervention involving changes in policy formulation, victim rehabilitation, and proactive state accountability in addressing human trafficking and sexual exploitation."
The Supreme Court's intervention in this matter, particularly through orders made between 2015 and 2024, marks a developing jurisprudence on trafficking. Not just did the Court ask for the establishment of an Organized Crime Investigative Agency (OCIA), but it also relentlessly tracked government procrastination, calling for improvement on legislation, rehabilitation of survivors, as well as institution-strengthening enforcement. The case highlights a key paradox in India's anti-trafficking legal framework.
This analysis assesses critically the Prajwala litigation both doctrinally and in a policy-sensitive framework. It discusses how the Court construed the state's constitutional and statutory duties, legislative and institutional implementation gaps, and the general implications of judicial intervention towards combating trafficking. By so doing, the article offers policy advice based on international best practices, such as India's pledges under the Palermo Protocol.
