Adoptions under SC lens after ‘sale’ stink

OUR LEGAL CORRRESPONDENT

New Delhi, Feb. 5: The Supreme Court today asked a Maharashtra observation home and the Centre’s adoption body to explain the alleged handover of two girls to a Spanish couple without the consent of their grandmother, who alleged the children might have been sold.

Vegetable vendor Kisabai Tulsiram Lokhande, appealing against a Bombay High Court ruling that had found nothing illegal in the adoptions, said she had consented only to the children being placed in a welfare home anywhere in Maharashtra, not for adoption.

The notices have been sent to Satara Child Welfare Committee, in whose custody the kids had been kept, and the Central Adoption Resource Agency (Cara), under the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment.

Komal and Ashwini’s father had died and their mother was “missing”, Kisabai said, adding she had kept the girls in the welfare home so they could get education. However, the girls were transferred to a private trust in Pune, Preet Mandir, which works for deprived children. “Preet Mandir, by conniving with government-run agencies (such as Cara) illegally embarked upon (a plan) to sell the two girls in the international market… where the price fetched by an Indian child varies from Rs 2,50,000 to 5,00,000,” she said in her plea.

Kisabai said the welfare home did not inform her about the adoption despite having her address. More important, the adoption was done after placing an ad, which made it seem as if the girls had no guardians, she added.