Denmark puts adoption home back under scanner

8220;I had only sent my children to the agency for good care and schooling as I did not have a job. I definitely did not want them to be given for adoption,8221; he said in a statement. Kulkarni said a signature was taken on a Rs 20 stamp paper saying it was an 8220;admission paper8221;. When Kulkarni8217;s parents went to get the children back, the agency demanded Rs 50,000 for each child, he said.

On April 26, Bombay High Court had asked the CBI to investigate suspicious foreign adoptions made through Preet Mandir and submit an overall report by mid-July. Mumbai-based Adwait Foundation and Pune-based child rights organisation Sakhee had filed a petition in the High Court against Preet Mandir for 8220;malpractices in foreign adoptions8221;.

Anjali Kate from Sakhee said when Kulkarni went to meet his children in July 2003, he could meet only two of the four. 8220;The authorities told him that the other two children were in hospital for treatment. He was requested to avoid visiting them often as it would disturb the children. Kulkarni returned only on April 12, 2007. It was then that he was told that all children were given for adoption,8221; said Kate.

When contacted a Preet Mandir spokesperson said, 8220;It is totally false. He had relinquished his four children legally to Preet Mandir for which we have sufficient evidence. It8217;s only on the basis of the consent papers that the four children were given for adoption to the Denmark agency.8221;

The adoption agency first came in the news in 2006 when a private channel ran a sting operations exposing its practices. Preet Mandir, which has two homes in Pune and a branch in Aurangabad. The channel claimed Preet Mandir managing director J S Bhasin had been 8220;selling babies to foreigners for years, breaking adoption laws in the country8221;.

As per rules, a child can be put up for adoption to foreign parents only if at least three Indian parents refuse the child. The rules also state that Indian parents should account for at least 50 per cent of all adoptions from a centre. However, in 2005-6, Preet Mandir put up 100 children for foreign adoptions as against 62 for Indians, something Bhasin then dismissed as misleading.

Today, J Bhasin was unavailable for comment. But a press statement issued by Preet Mandir said: 8220;The allegations made are false, untrue and with malafide intention by someone who is constantly maligning the image of Balwant Kartar Anand Foundation Preet Mandir. They appear to be bent upon damaging the rehabilitation programme of orphans and underprivileged children.8221; Preet Mandir is following all rules and guidelines prescribed by the State and Central governments as well as orders of the Supreme Court, the spokesperson said, threatening to take legal action against those 8220;out to defame the fair name of Preet Mandir8221;.

Pune Police Commissioner Jayant Umranikar said he would immediately register a case if the 8220;complaint by the parent is cognisable in nature8221;. In fact, the police had failed to file an FIR when Kulkarni initially complained about Preet Mandir.

Pune Cantonment Board CEO S K Sardana, under whose jurisdiction Preet Mandir falls, said: 8220;Action will be taken against Preet Mandir and the same will be discussed in the cantonment general body meeting. We will cancel their license if need be8221;.

Meanwhile, Kate said Sakhee had ample proof against the agency. 8220;The Bombay High Court has asked the CBI to conduct an inquiry into where they source the children from to donations taken during inter-country adoptions. The CBI was supposed to give a preliminary report in 15 days. This has extended to three months. Anyway, the full report is due in mid-July,8221; she said.