The Bombay High Court has given five weeks times to adoptive parents to seek a stay from another bench of the high court on an order of the civil court ordering them to return their adopted child to its biological parents.
A division bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Sharmila Deshmukh were hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by the biological parents.
Advocate Edith Dey, appearing for the biological parents, informed the bench that when the lower court ordered the adoptive parents to hand over the child to the biological parents, it stayed its own order for a few weeks. When the stay period expired and the child was still not returned, they filed a habeas corpus petition with the court.
Advocate Pranav Badheka, appearing for the adoptive couple, argued that the child had been with them for 22 months and that they needed more time to get a stay of the lower court order. Dey objected, claiming that at least seven orders had been issued in the adoption proceedings, all of which were against the adoptive parents.
The adoptive parents have also filed three petitions, which are being heard by three separate single benches of the Supreme Court. Advocate Badheka promised to take the necessary steps to extend the lapsed stay.
The division bench stated, “We make it clear that if no stay is obtained, appropriate orders will be passed on the next date.” The court scheduled the matter for further consideration on 7 June, 2023.
These numerous proceedings stem from a case in which the biological mother was an unmarried woman who gave birth to a child during the lockdown. Due to the couple’s financial and health problems at the time, the woman gave up her child for adoption to an NGO in 2021. The NGO found a couple to adopt the child, but in the meantime, the couple realized it was a baby-selling scam after the woman with whom they had been in contact was arrested in a case by Mumbai police. Meanwhile, the unwed mother married the child’s father and desperately wanted her child back.
The biological mother and her husband, according to the adoptive parents, gave the child to them for adoption. As a result, the parties prepared and executed a notarized document, the deed of adoption. Meanwhile, the child was handed over to them, and the couple stated that they were caring for the child and had grown attached to him. They also stated that they should retain custody of the child for his welfare.
