The Kerala High Court has reiterated that there ought to be an express or implied trust of property or entrustment for any specific purpose in order to attract the liability for criminal breach of trust as provided under Section 406 IPC.

Justice P. Somarajan explained that the mere existence of a commercial transaction and deposit of amount with any person or institution would not attract criminal breach of trust as defined under Section 405 IPC

"A deposit of amount with a person, if it is intended for keeping the same without the liability of interest or any premium payable on that account would attract the criminal liability under Section 406 IPC, if it was dishonestly misappropriated, converted or dispossessed in violation of any direction prescribing the mode of its user or any legal contract. On the contrary, when the deposit is for the purpose of incurring interest, failure to return the amount as agreed would not canvass the criminal liability under Section 406 IPC, unless it constitutes entrustment of the said amount or any dominion over the property for any specific purpose either express or implied or to utilise the periodical interest for any such specific purpose, either express or implied. In short, a mere deposit of amount with any banker, financial institution or any person, if it is for getting interest, unless satisfies the abovesaid cardinal ingredients, cannot be brought under the purview of criminal breach of trust as defined under Section 405 IPC and no criminal liability can be fastened for the offence punishable under Section 406 IPC," the Bench observed

The prosecution case is that the revision petitioner, who is the 1st accused person in the case, along with other accused were conducting a partnership business, namely M/S Rajappan Achary, and accepted fixed deposit from various persons. It is alleged that the accused persons thereafter misappropriated the amount for their own use. 

The complainant, who was one of the victims of such alleged misappropriation, claimed that although he was paid a certain amount as interest, the principal amount and the interest accrued thereafter had not been paid as agreed.

The courts below held the revision petitioner guilty of the offence under Section 406 IPC. 

In the present revision petitioner, the Court was thus faced with the question as to whether criminal liability could be extended under Section 406 IPC when there is neither express nor implied trust and whether both the courts below were justified in convicting the accused for the said offence without satisfying the existence of either express or implied trust

"For me, the welfare of the girl is paramount. I am scared to send her away. How can I ensure her welfare there," Justice Devan Ramachandran asked. 

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday appointed Advocate Parvathy Menon as amicus curiae to assist the court in the petition filed by a couple seeking permission to return their adopted child and annul the adoption.

The couple adopted the child (now she turned 18 years old) based on the order issued by the Guardian Judge, Ludhiana, Punjab, but they wanted to annul the adoption alleging that she was unable to integrate with the family.

When the petition came up for hearing Justice Devan Ramachandran said that the contents of the report of the Secretary, District Legal Service Authority, Thiruvananthapuram, who interacted with the child, are distressing, particularly as to the plight of the young woman.

It stated that the girl, who recently turned 18 years old, expressed an intense desire to return to her parental state in Ludhiana, Punjab. This may be because she feels forlorn and virtually destitute in Kerala being 'abandoned' by her adoptive parents.

It will be a "huge disclaimer" if Norway stops adoptions from abroad, several adoptive families believe.

The short version

• Adoptive families believe it will be a "huge disclaimer" if Norway stops adoptions from abroad
• Five families also criticize VG's adoption coverage for being one-sided.
• Sissel Kruse Larsen, who has adopted a daughter from Peru, believes that a temporary halt to adoptions to Norway will have major consequences for children.

- From one day to the next, families have their lives turned around by the Norwegian authorities, says Øyvind Bakke Reier to VG.

Important and interesting debate at the Chamber of Deputies in the conference organized by Ai.Bi. and Academy Spadolini: “From the serious crisis of international adoptions to a Mattei Plan for the adoption and foster care of African children”. A very first step to start a dialogue with African countries in the interests of reciprocity, development, communities and cooperation

Institutional greetings, leading personalities and, above all, an interesting debate characterized the conference " From the serious crisis of international adoptions to a Mattei Plan for the adoption and foster care of African children ", held on the afternoon of Tuesday 21 November at the Sala del Cenacolo of the Chamber of Deputies.
At the center of the interventions, the plan to relaunch International Adoption and strengthen International Fostering and Long Distance Adoption in the context of the Mattei Plan for Africa that the current Government is formulating.

Adoption as the only possibility to become children again

The event opened with a greeting from the Hon. Lamberto Dini who, illustrating the reasons and purposes of the Mattei Plan, specified how "The investments that will be promoted cannot only be of an economic and strategic nature, but also humanitarian". In this sense, a Mattei Plan for the Adoption and Fostering of African children can perform a fundamental function of "support to help these countries to help those children who are in disadvantaged conditions of subsistence and abandonment".
Immediately afterwards, the Hon. Simonetta Matone reported her long experience with adoptions as a judge of minors, hoping that the Mattei Plan can "put a firm point" to find new ways that allow both "couples' desires for parenthood" and the “children's needs”.

MOUNTAIN BROOK, Ala. —

While the holidays can be a joyous time for families, it can be difficult for those struggling with infertility. If that's you, a Mountain Brook couple wants to offer up hope.

Rodney and Mary Leah Miller will be celebrating their first Thanksgiving since adopting twins. But this is no typical adoption because Mary Leah actually gave birth to the babies.
And now they want everyone to understand how embryo adoption works.

Dad, Rodney said, “They're just so fun. They just bring so much joy to our household, to our family.”

The Millers appreciate every giggle, every tear and every dirty diaper. After 10 years of struggling with infertility, they are now a family of four. Over the years, they tried every imaginable treatment, but nothing worked. Then, they heard about embryo adoption.

“That was the first time in a long time we had hope that this was going to work out, that we were not only going to have a family and children, but Mary Leah would be able to experience a pregnancy like we were both very excited about that,” Rodney Miller said.

This too is a record. Council says Tharattu adoption awareness will be launched on Sunday

THE HINDU BUREAU

A record 50 children have been adopted from the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare in the past six months. Of them, 10 children have been adopted by couples abroad, and this too is a record. Eight children adopted by foreign couples this year are differently abled, council general secretary G.L. Arun Gopi has said.

He was speaking at a press conference here on Wednesday to announce the launch of Tharattu, a campaign at the district level this month and the next to create awareness on adoptions with the goal of making the State adoption-friendly.

Mr. Gopi said these children had been adopted from the council’s adoption centres/child care centres after completion of formalities in the six-month period from March to November this year. The 50th child had left the Malappuram adoption centre of the council with its adopted parents on November 18 for Tamil Nadu.

KOLORIANG, 21 Nov: Women & Child Development (WCD) Director Tokmem Pertin Loyi during an ‘awareness camp on legal adoption’ at the DC’s conference hall here in Kurung Kumey district on Tuesday appealed to the people to adopt children legally.

Loyi, who was on a weeklong tour of the district to participate in the ongoing celebration of the National Adoption Awareness Month, said that “adopting legal

means to adopt children saves the adopting parents from legal complicacies in future.”

The WCD director explained the concepts of adoption; authorities and agencies for adoption; who can be adopted; who can adopt; age criteria of prospective parents; and punitive provisions.

During an awareness programme, screening of videos and presentations on legal adoption were done for the benefit of the public. Kurung Kumey WCD Deputy Director Kago Maya Gyati also spoke.

Denmark's only adoption agency, DIA, which is funded by the Danish state, has paid Malagasy authorities to facilitate the processing of adoptions to Denmark. Associate professor in administrative law assesses that this is corruption.

A few notes here and a few notes there to the relevant authorities. In poor Madagascar, it is the premise if things are to slide a little easier. 

Now it appears that the adoption system on the African island is not exempt, and that this has also applied to the adoption mediation of children who have been adopted to Denmark. 

Danwatch has spoken to the representative of Danish International Adoptions (DIA) in Madagascar, who says on several occasions that she has paid Malagasy authorities in connection with Danish adoption cases to get the adoptions through. 

“I pay a small amount here and a small amount there. To the administration and to the courtrooms. I also pay the police for their investigations", says the representative when Danwatch calls her.

NEW DELHI: The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) painted a gloomy picture for nearly 3.5 crore children awaiting adoption in various Child Care Institutions (CCIs) saying that the cumbersome procedures and resultant inordinate delay had led to a situation where many of the children available for adoption reach the age of 6 years when a majority of prospective adoptive parents ( PAPs) are no longer willing to embrace them.
Additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for CARA with its director Jagannath Pati, informed a bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra that nearly 70% of PAPs prefer to adopt children aged below two years. Only 10.3% of PAPs adopt children aged 2-4 years and 14.8% prefer to adopt children aged 4-6 years.
 

Providing comprehensive statistics about adoptions, Bhati said though crores of children are lodged in CCIs, only 2,146 were ‘legally free’ to be adopted. As on October 28, there were as many as 30,669 PAPs registered with CARA. As per data placed before the SC, the annual number of adoptions has declined from 4,362 in 2014-15 to 3,158 in 2022-23.
 

TIMES VIEW

The data underlines the vast difference between the number of children who need adoption and the number of those being adopted. There’s no arguing that the adoption process in India is complex and convoluted. Adoption gives a child a home and limitless joy to the new parents. The government should adopt an uncomplicated but thorough process to encourage this socially progressive trend.

Event to discuss the possibility of intervention for children and families in difficulty in Africa, starting from the relaunch of international adoptions and a serious and shared investment in long-distance adoption.

Conference "From the serious crisis of international adoptions to a Mattei Plan for the adoption and foster care of African children", recorded in Rome on Tuesday 21 November 2023 at 5.15pm.

The event was organized by the Giovanni Spadolini Academy of Culture and Politics and the Ai.Bi Association. Friends of Children.

Speakers: Giorgio Rutelli (director of Formiche.net), Lamberto Dini (former president of the Council of Ministers and former minister of Foreign Affairs), Simonetta Matone (MP, Lega - Salvini Premier (Chamber parliamentary group)), Marzia Masiello (managers institutional relations of Ai.Biv Associazione Amici dei Bambini), Maria Rita Parsi (psychologist, educational psychologist, psychotherapist and writer), Luigi Tivelli (president of the Giovanni Spadolini Academy of culture and politics), Marco Griffini (president of the Ai.Bi association . Friends of Children), Paolo Trancassini (deputy, commissioner of the Chamber of Deputies, Brothers of Italy), Claudia Conte (spokesperson for the Giovanni Spadolini Academy of culture and politics), Elena Bonetti (deputy, Action - Popular Europeanist Reformers - Renew Europe), Sergio Vento (ambassador and president of Vento & Associati), Vincenzo Starita (vice president of CAI - Commission for International Adoptions), Adriano Bordignon (national president of the Family Associations Forum).

The following topics were discussed: Adoption, Fostering, Africa, Administration, Human Rights, Marginalization, Foreign Affairs, Minors, Poverty.

The video recording of this conference lasts 2 hours and 13 minutes.

The content is also available in the audio version only.