The top court of a central Indian state has quashed a cri-minal case of child trafficking against a Protestant leader, say-ing it was ill-intended and meant to damage his image. The Jabalpur bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court “quashed the false case on Sept. 23,” said Shashank Shekhar, a lawyer representing Ajay Lall, founder of the Central India Christian Mission. The high court noted that the case against “the petitioner is sugar-coated with ill-intention and made to belittle his image in the soci-ety,” Shekhar told. Police in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh district charged Lall in August with committing various offen-ses under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Child-ren) Act. Lall was accused of not sharing details of two children who stayed at his orphanage 15 years ago, which led to the registration of a case of child trafficking. The bench of Justice Sanjay Dwivedi sla-mmed the police for registering the false case. He said the action was initiated against Lall without a complaint or obje-ction from any children or their parents. The high court also noted the arbitrary role played by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), a statutory federal body to protect the rights of children. “A well-orchestrated campaign and negative media coverage was carried out to malign the image of an insti-tution that extends a helping hand to poor children,” said Daniel John, a Catholic leader based in the state capital Bho-pal.
Spanish bishops speak out after leaks of their meeting with Leo XIV
The executive committee of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, (CEE, by its Spanish acronym) meeting in Madrid this week, issued an official statement regarding the leaks
