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Journalism of Courage
The Telangana High Court Tuesday dismissed a habeas corpus petition stating that the custody of a child with the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) cannot be termed illegal detention, “where there was no legal adoption in the case”.
The bench of Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya and Justice Gadi Praveen Kumar was dealing with a petition which also sought an opportunity for the adoptive parents to legalise the adoption process of a 23-month-old child.
The petitioners’ counsel said that the adoptive parents have been married for 23 years without a child and hence should be allowed to have the child. The baby’s biological parents from Suryapet had sold him for Rs 5 lakh to the adoptive parents in Hyderabad in November 2024 through mediators. The police registered an FIR in February in the case and handed over the baby to CWC.
The counsel for the state argued that the adoption was not routed through the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), which is the nodal agency for the adoption of children. While the petitioner’s counsel claimed they had an adoption deed, the state counsel pointed out that it was not registered with the state, as is the case with legal adoptions.
Dictating the order, Justice Gadi Praveen Kumar said the CWC is a quasi-judicial authority constituted under the Act for addressing the needs of the children who require care and protection within a district, as well as process adoption of abandoned, orphaned or lost children.
“Admittedly, there is no valid adoption [in the present case] and where there is no valid legal adoption, the custody of CWC cannot be termed as illegal detention,” Justice Praveen Kumar said, while noting that the present case is devoid of any ingredients that attract the provisions of habeas corpus and hence the case is dismissed.
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