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ShareThe Bombay high court, on Wednesday, held that no criminal offence was madeout against the adoption authorities in the allegedly illegal foreign adoption of the grand-daughters of a vegetable vendor from Satara.
Kisabai Lokhande, 66, from Karad, had sought the court's intervention to get back her granddaughters, aged 15 and 10, who now stay with their adoptive parents in Spain. Lokhande had sought a probe against the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) at Satara, the Central Adoption Resource Centre (Cara), a Spanish NGO, and Preet Mandir, a Pune-based private adoption agency, for illegally declaring the two girls as "destitute" and executing the adoption without their guardian's consent.
Lokhande had said that the girls were orphaned after their mother went missing four years ago and their father died. Her advocate Pradeep Havnur, however, said that the adoption was carried out in violation of the Juvenile Justice Act as the sanction of their guardian was not sought.
The respondents in the case, however, said that the girls were sent to Preet Mandir after the CWC felt that their grandmother could not look after them. Justice Bilal Nazki and justice AR Joshi said, "We do not find the action of the respondents inviting any criminal action. The complaint filed with the police does not disclose any cognisable offence."
The judges added that Lokhande had surrendered the children to the CWC and they had complied with all the formalities under the law prior to the adoption of the girls.
