Anupama will get her baby back, govt must monitor all adoptions strictly, say experts

Kozhikode: It is almost certain that the Thiruvananthapuram child missing case will get

embroiled in legal battle in the coming days as the state government has approached

Vanchiyoor Family Court to ensure justice.

Anupama S Chandran, a former member of SFI and the daughter of a Peroorkada CPI-M

area committee member Jayachandran, came up with the allegations against her family

members a few days back. She alleged that her father took away her baby and gave the

child away for adoption to a family in Andra Pradesh.

Now the million-dollar question is will Anupama get her baby back or not?

“If all the adoption procedures were held absolutely in line with the legal norms, Anupama

may have to sweat a lot to get her baby back. As per a supreme court verdict, legal

guardian has supreme right on the baby than biological parents. It was after quashing a

high court order to hand over a baby to biological parents, the apex court observed it. The

adoption procedures were clearly followed in the case,” said P Sathidevi, Chairperson of

Kerala Women’s Commission.

The commission has sought a report from police to check the procedures followed for the

adoption. “We will take all necessary measures to ensure justice in line with the legalities

of the case.”

However, legal experts in Kerala have opined in one voice that Anupama will receive her

baby back as preliminary findings expose irregularities in the adoption procedures.

“Anupama has already said, she was compelled to sign the affidavit for adoption with an

assurance that the baby will be given back once the marriage of her sister is over. Prima

facie, there is coercion. After all, the procedures followed were not in legal line. Since the

government has approached court, all these will be observed and undoubtedly, Anupama

will get her baby back,” said Adv. Haskar BN.

In the meantime, the state government has approached Vanchiyoor Family Court to annul

all the proceedings held to adopt the baby. The state government has confirmed that the

baby of Anupama was adopted by a couple in Andra Pradesh. However, it was a

temporary adoption and the procedures in this regard have not yet completed. The court

was supposed to deliver a final verdict on the adoption next week.

In view of the developments there are calls to examine the adoptions taking place in the

state. A Kollam-based lawyer Boris Paul has said, “All adoptions in the country are

supposed to be taken place through ‘CARA’ (Central Adoption Resource Authority), an

autonomous and statutory body of Ministry of Women and Child Development in the

Government of India. One has to register on the website before adopting a baby and

following this, a whole lot of procedures have to be cleared. It is a laborious and timeconsuming process. Bypassing all these, how Anupama’s baby was adopted? It has to be

examined.”

There is no proper system in the state to monitor adoptions. “This incident must be an eyeopener. The government must monitor adoptions strictly,” added Boris Paul

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