Allahabad HC fines Rs 5 lakh on child welfare panel for sending minor to welfare home
The government counsel told the court that a police probe found no one “enticed away” the girl who was in her mother's custody.
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The bench expressed surprise over the committee's action and directed that if the fine is not paid by the next hearing on May 23, the Kanpur city police commissioner should ensure the chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee appears in the court. The Allahabad High Court on Monday imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Kanpur, for its “shocking and surprising decision” to send a 15-year-old girl living with her mother to a welfare home for children after her father filed a complaint that the minor was “enticed away” by two persons.
A division bench of Justices Arvind Singh Sangwan and Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra ordered that the amount be given to the girl’s father to “support her upbringing”. The bench expressed surprise over the committee’s action and directed that if the fine is not paid by the next hearing on May 23, the Kanpur city police commissioner should ensure the chairperson of the Child Welfare Committee appears in the court.
The court passed the order while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by the girl’s mother who said her daughter was taken away from her and has been lodged at the welfare home for children for three months at the instance of the CWC.
In the meantime, the girl’s father lodged an FIR alleging that the minor was “enticed away” by two persons. The government counsel told the court that a police probe found no one “enticed away” the girl who was in her mother’s custody. A report was submitted by the area magistrate recommending proceedings under Section 182 of the Indian Penal Code against the father.
Later, the father’s statement was recorded and then the CWC directed that the girl be kept in the government-run welfare home of children, the counsel told the court. The bench had directed the CWC representatives to appear before the court on next hearing on Monday with an affidavit explaining the circumstances under which the girl was sent to the welfare home for children.
The girl was produced in the court on Monday. The court said the girl’s custody be given to her father. The mother can seek her custody by filing a petition in the competent court of law, it said.
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