The Bombay High Court has ordered the Child Welfare Committee to hand over the custody of three children to their respective adoptive parents despite them having not legally adopted the children yet.
The court said it was unfortunate that the adoptive parents had not adhered to the protocols prescribed under the law for adoption, but it must keep in mind the paramount interest of the children.
In its judgment of July 22, a copy of which was made available on Thursday, a division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande noted that the children, aged between one and a half years and three years, had been under the care of their adoptive parents since they were infants.
It passed the order on three separate petitions filed by three couples challenging orders passed by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) under which the children were taken from their custody and placed under the supervision of NGO Baal Asha Trust.
In April 2024, the city police registered a case under the Indian Penal Code and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, claiming that the children were not adopted legitimately and that their biological parents had sold the infants to the petitioners.
The petitioners claimed that they had executed Adoption Deeds with the respective child’s biological parents. The pleas claimed the petitioners were financially sound and in a position to take care of each child’s needs and education.
The bench in its order said it must “unfortunately” note that execution of an adoption deed, which is not registered but merely notarized, does not amount to a valid adoption.
The court said the protocols for adoption prescribed by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), set up by the Union government, have not been adhered to at all.
The bench, however, noted that the biological parents of the children had handed over the custody of the children to the petitioners and there is also no application filed by the biological parents seeking their child’s custody.
The court also noted that the petitioners were not arraigned as accused by the police.
The bench noted that since the three children were not technically abandoned, surrendered or orphaned, the order passed by the CWC handing over the children’s custody to the shelter home was illegal.
The court said the children have been with the petitioners’ families since they were infants and hence are a part of their family now.
“Taking into consideration the paramount interest of the children, we issue directions to the Child Welfare Committee and the Baal Asha Trust to hand over custody of the children to the respective petitioners immediately,” HC ordered.
Comments
0 comment