New Delhi, Oct. 9 -- The Supreme Court on Friday termed the deaths of about 32 tribal children in Madhya Pradesh's Balaghat as "most unfortunate" and sought responses from the Centre and the Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh governments on providing compensation to the victims' families and taking effective steps to protect other children suffering from severe malnutrition and a lack of drinking water facilities.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant said, "What has happened is a very unfortunate thing," as it issued notice on a petition filed by Balaghat resident Ajab Lal Lilhare.

While the bench was initially inclined to refer the matter to the Madhya Pradesh High Court, advocate Varun Thakur, who argued the petition...