Hyderabad: A division bench of the Telangana High Court has instructed the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) to promptly determine the guardianship of 15 children currently under its care.
These children were taken into custody by Rachakonda police following the dismantling of a child trafficking ring in May.
The court mandated that the CWC issue an order under Section 37 of the 2015 Adoption Act within two weeks from November 28. Additionally, it directed relevant authorities to process adoption applications from prospective parents within four weeks.
According to the police FIR, these children were allegedly sold by their biological parents through a mediator named Shobha Rani, who charged Rs 5 lakh for a girl child and Rs 6 lakh for a boy child.
The police intervened and removed the children from their adoptive parents, leading to legal action as the adoptive parents sought custody through the high court.
The CWC and police contested this claim, asserting that proper adoption procedures had not been followed as outlined in the Adoption Act.
Nevertheless, a single judge initially allowed the adoptive parents to pursue legal adoption procedures9.
In response to appeals filed by the CWC against the single judge’s decision, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas Rao overturned those orders.
They emphasized that the CWC must make its decision based on due process and after conducting a thorough investigation.
Despite completing the investigation, the CWC had yet to make any decisions, prompting the court to reiterate its directive for an expedited resolution.
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