Restore children adopted sans consent to parents: Madras High Court

CHENNAI: Adoption is the most beautiful solution for childless couples, single people and also homeless children as it enables a parent-child relationship to be established between persons who are not biologically related. But it would be totally different and would shatter a woman if she is forced to part with her child, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has held.

“To part a woman from her child in a violent manner is a most dangerous step to take. It will so unstabilise her that she may emerge from the shattering experience as an entirely different personality,” a Division Bench of Justices S Vimala and T Krishnavalli observed, while ordering the restoration of a 15-year-old girl with her biological mother and a 25-year-old man with his biological father in two separate cases.

The Bench was disposing of two habeas corpus writ petitions – one from a woman seeking her daughter and the other from a man praying for the return of his son. They contended that their consent was not taken for the surrender of the children and that the implication of the surrender was not explained to them. They reclaimed their daughter and son from the respective Child Welfare Committees (CWCs).

The CWCs submitted that counselling was given before the surrender regarding its implication.

However, the mother said she gave the child to the committee only with a view of taking back her once the problems are settled. She never intended to give the child in adoption.“The anxiety in the eyes of the mother with incessant tears and the longing cannot be answered in the negative,” the Bench said.

“No doubt, adoption is the very laudable method of providing a family to a child and it is laudable to the child, who has no family. Here is a case, where both the parents, along with their grandparents, are willing to take care of the respective child. The so called consent allegedly given by the mother is not an informed consent. Therefore, the consent itself is not valid. The advantages of nurturing the child by the biological mother cannot be underestimated and the advantages, as disclosed in various reports, cannot be ignored,” the Bench said.

The surrender deed executed by the mother and the father in the two different cases are cancelled, the Bench said and ordered the restoration of the children back to the respective mother and father.

It also directed the authorities who are in charge of counselling to explain in detail the implications of surrendering a child in unequivocal terms and the termination of parental rights on the expiry of 60 days from the date of surrender.

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