Kulkarnis to move apex court

The Act does not permit multiple adoptions of the same sex and necessitated the Kulkarnis to take Supriya as their ward under the Guardianship and Wards Act. Their petition was finally heard in September this year.

Two days ago the division bench of Justice A A Desai and S S Parkar delivered their verdict on the case. The judges ruled that the Kulkarnis cannot claim “to decide the size of their family”. Also, that guardianship of the Kulkarnis was good enough for the welfare of Supriya. The judges refused to amend the Act which, according to them, had mythological significance.

The Kulkarnis, along with other couples aggrieved by the BHC ruling, will soon file a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court. Even while the petition was pending, Kulkarnis received many phone calls from couples all over the country, who wanted to extend their support to the original petition.

Advocate Satyajit Bhatkal had in fact intervened on behalf of the Indian Association for the Promotion of Adoption. He told the court about discrimination against children who are mere `wards’ and not legal inheritors of the family.