Court entrusts custody of baby boy to Madurai home

Kaushik Kannan | TNN | Jun 8, 2020, 04:07 IST+1AA

Madurai: Madras high court has entrusted the custody of a male child given in illegal adoption to a children’s home in Madurai, a specialized adoption agency in the district, after the state government informed that DNA test should be performed to determine its parentage.
REMOVE ADSThe court was hearing the petition filed by a woman from Salem district who sought the custody of her nearly seven-month-old child currently with the child welfare committee (CWC) in Virudhunagar. She claims to have given birth to the child in October 2019 and since her family was under financial distress she had given the baby for adoption to a couple in Virudhunagar district. Since no legal procedures were followed, the CWC took custody of the child and is inquiring into the incident. A police complaint was also lodged.
During the hearing, the special government pleader submitted that it appears from the statements of the couple that they paid Rs 40,000 to the petitioner. She further submitted that even though medical records have been produced for the birth of the child, it would be in the interest of the child that DNA test is conducted to establish parentage.
On perusal of the submissions, Justice C V Karthikeyan observed that in cases like this, the onus is on the CWC which is the authorized agency under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, to examine the circumstances surrounding abandonment, if it is a case of abandonment, and the circumstances surrounding the rescue of the child, and also enquire with the parents to determine their financial viability to take care of the child and their intention. Since the CWC and police are examining the issues, it may not be appropriate for the court to give its view on the matter. The judge said that on completion of inquiry and after establishment of the DNA test, the CWC may take a considered decision either to hand over the child to the petitioner or the specialized adoption agency.