The Supreme Court of India will rule today on the constitutional validity of the Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalises homosexuality between consenting adults.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra heard petitions filed against the colonial-era law by, among others, Keshav Suri, the executive director of The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, and the Naz Foundation.

They filed a review petition against the Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling that re-criminalised homosexuality, overturning Delhi High Court’s 2009 verdict that had held Section 377 “illegal”. The hearing this time saw minimal opposition from the government, which left it to the wisdom of the top court. The only challenge came from three Christian groups who opposed it on theological grounds.

Apart from Chief Justice Misra, the bench comprises Justice Rohinton Nariman, Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice Indu Malhotra. Here are some of the arguments during the hearing:

Petitioners

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The bench of magistrates said that “separation” will adversely affect the child’s well-being and gave “interim custody” to the parents to whom the child was allegedly sold.

Written by Alok Singh, Abhishek Angad |

New Delhi |

Updated: September 5, 2018 5:29:51 am

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Abandoned children are being sent to other districts

In the absence of adoption agency in Tiruchi, abandoned children are being sent to other districts where organisations comply with CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority) guidelines.

According to official sources, the necessity to send children to other districts has arisen since the SOC-SEAD has not renewed its licence that had lapsed during 2016.

No other agency has come forward for adopting children, District Child Protection Officer Geetha said. SOC-SEAD sources said that they have fulfilled all norms but are yet to be granted the licence.

The Adoption Guidelines 2017 framed by CARA envisages increase in time period available to domestic Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAP) for matching and acceptance, after reserving the child referred, from 20 days to 15 days.

As many as 445 children have found a new life through inter-country adoptions this year.

Representational image

Representational image

Hyderabad: Couples from the US, Italy and Spain have adopted 50 per cent of children given in inter-country adoptions over a five year period. Girl children continue to be more preferred. Since 2013, the rate of adoption by couples in the three countries, France, the UAE, Canada and the UK have seen an increase. In 2013-14, US families adopted over 160 Indian children which dipped to 138 but rose to 222 and 213 in the subsequent years and 203 so far in 2018.

Similarly, Spanish couples adopted 43 Indian children in 2013, the numbers rising to 56 and 64 in the subsequent years. The number then fell to 61 but Spanish couples have adopted 66 children so far this year. As many as 445 children have found a new life through inter-country adoptions this year.

Child welfare committees have been instructed to inspect foster homes every month for the first three months and then after every six months, NCPCR said, amid a rise in incidents of sexual abuse of children at child care institutions.

The National Commission For Protection of Child Rights has come up with a user guide in collaboration with Centre Of Excellence in Alternative Care (India) to boost foster care system in the country.

The manual is aimed at giving a clear understanding of what foster families are and ways to benefit children who are under institutional care, according to an NCPCR official.

"India faces a greater challenge in deinstitutionalisation because of its size, geography, economy and the fact that foster care is a fairly recent development. It is therefore important to develop a model of foster care that works for India," the official said.

The guidebook comes in the backdrop of reports of sexual abuse of children at child care institutions across the country.

Farmer Budu Kandir with his daughter Sarita (right) and Mangra at a Ranchi hospital on Saturday. (Prashant Mitra)

Ranchi: For a month-and-a-half, a Khunti farmer is chasing authorities to get back his 18-month-old son who went missing after 22 babies were shifted from a Missionaries of Charity-run shelter in the wake of a baby-sale-for-adoption controversy that rocked the state capital in July.

After the adoption racket came to light at Ranchi's Nirmal Hriday, the state child welfare committee ordered the shifting of all babies from Shishu Bhavan. Of 22 babies there, 12 were shifted to Khunti's Sahyog Village, a child care shelter run by an NGO.

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