Overview
- The court rejected the Centre’s request for six weeks and ordered appointment of a national nodal officer for missing-child cases by December 9.
- States and Union Territories were earlier directed to name their own nodal officers and publish contacts on the Mission Vatsalya portal with complaints shared to them simultaneously.
- The bench reiterated the need for a Home Ministry–led online portal to trace missing children and to fix gaps in inter‑state police coordination.
- The justices flagged a report that a child goes missing every eight minutes as a serious concern and said the complex adoption process can push people toward illegal channels.
- Proceedings stem from an NGO petition alleging organised trafficking, citing cases of minors moved from Uttar Pradesh to Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.