A Delhi High Court case explores returning an adopted orphan child years later
NEW DELHI: Can an orphan adopted legally after following all procedures be “returned” years later if the adoptive parents are unable to handle the truant minor or if the child poses a threat to them?The case of one such child, adopted in 2018 by a couple but now proving a handful for the mother, has reached the Delhi high court, which sought the stand of the authorities, reports Abhinav Garg.Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, during a hearing last week, pointed out that there aren’t too many precedents, if any, to shed light on law governing return of a minor in such cases and asked Centre, through Central Adoption Resource Authority, to furnish its stand. HC also issued notice to Child Welfare Committee – Kasturba Niketan Complex at Lajpat Nagar and asked it to respond if the minor can be housed at the facility.
Recognising the urgency and importance of the matter, HC asked the authorities to respond by Sept 30. It was hearing a plea filed by the mother of the boy seeking directions to hand over his custody to CARA or any govt organisation or any private organisation, which can also provide all necessary medical care and treatment to the child for which she will bear the expenses to the best of her financial capacity.Explaining her predicament, the woman, through advocate Ali Bin Saif, informed the court that she and her husband adopted the child, then six years old, via CARA in 2018.“It was later discovered that he was intellectually disabled and was indulging in inappropriate behaviour, including aggression, committing theft and was expelled from multiple schools,” Saif submitted, adding that three years after the adoption, the woman lost her husband and is now living with her mother and sister.“The petitioner and her husband adopted the respondent no. 4 (boy) at the age of 6 years and either his medical examination was not conducted in the proper manner or the concerned doctors were not able to detect his illness,” the plea says, adding that the couple admitted him in a school where he behaved inappropriately with a schoolmate. “The petitioner was informed about such incident by the school authority and the boy was expelled from the school.”Highlighting that three aged women are at present grappling with the boy, the petition says that due to his behaviour, petitioner and her old age mother are in constant fear that he will misbehave. The petition adds that he has been expelled from many schools and “due to mental disability, the petitioner is in constant fear that the boy can do anything with her if she stopped him from stealing money or misbehaving”.Seeking the court’s intervention, the mother says that with passage of time the adopted son is “becoming more violent and there is apprehension that he can misbehave… and therefore it is not safe for the petitioner and her mother and her sister.”
