Karnataka high court: Consider adoption pleas of couple raising abandoned child

Bengaluru: A Shivamogga couple, who raised an abandoned child for nearly 10 years after their own disabled baby had died, have received a shot in the arm in their battle for adoption. The Karnataka high court directed the authorities to consider their application after undertaking the inquiry process mandated under the law.Justice DK Singh passed the order recently while disposing of the petition filed by the couple.
The petitioners challenged the proceedings initiated by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Shivamogga, in 2017. According to the petitioners, the child was abandoned at Gavi Siddheshwara Swami mutt three days after the birth, and the seer of the mutt gave the baby boy to their custody on June 10, 2016. He is now studying in the fourth standard.They claimed that the child should be allowed to be adopted by them, and the denial of the same would be inhuman.They submitted that their own child, born disabled, died 12 years ago, when it was just four months old.Justice DK Singh observed that the court is of the opinion that the paramount interest of the child's welfare, care and protection would be secured in the hands of the petitioners who looked after the child as their own. Maybe for procedural and legal oversight, they could not reach the committee as mandated in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016, the Judge added.The court told the petitioners to produce the child before the committee in Bengaluru on March 10. The committee shall proceed with the inquiry to see whether the interest and welfare of the child is secured in the custody of the petitioners.The petitioners' application for the adoption of the child should also be processed soon after the committee completes its inquiry. If the petitioners are found eligible, the child should be given to them in adoption, the court said.The Central Adoption Resource Authority, Bengaluru, is required to process the application of the petitioners expeditiously once the committee completes its inquiry."It is needless to say that the child should remain in the custody of the petitioners during the inquiry to be conducted by the CWC," Justice Singh said in his order while disposing of the petition filed by the couple.MSID:: 128566081 413 |