Busy with Bombay high court case, Pune home denies care to child

Pune’s contentious adoption home Preet Mandir has challenged the revocation of its licence before the Bombay high court.

However, while the decision for the adoption centre may go either way, a one-year-old girl with special needs is being denied parental care as her adoption cannot be processed.

The girl, who has been matched with an overseas citizen of India couple (name withheld), is one among 17 children from Preet Mandir whose case the Central Adoption Resources Authority (Cara) was asked to process in January.

The couple has been waiting to adopt her and take her home to South Africa. Shirin Merchant, the couple’s advocate, said, “The girl suffers from a major hearing problem. The couple had wanted to take her to South Africa and give her the necessary treatment. If she is not given the medical attention soon she may even lose her ability to hear.”

While the Cara had moved for the grant of a no-objection certificate on January 30, Preet Mandir’s licence was revoked on May 20.

Counsel for the Cara told the court on Monday that after the revocation, the transfer of the children from Preet Mandir to other institutions had been stayed by another bench of the court.
Merchant said, “Now we either have to wait for court orders in the case of transferring children or file a separate application for
our case.”