4 Kids Remain In Sishu Vihar Despite SC Order
Invoking Article 142 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court had directed that custody of the children be restored to the adoptive parents by August 14, citing the ‘best interest of the child’ principle under the Juvenile Justice Act: Reports
HYDERABAD: In the continuing tussle between law and emotions, four children rescued in a trafficking case remain in Sishu Vihar despite the Supreme Court’s directive to return them to adoptive parents. The reason: The state government has filed a review petition, asking the apex court to reconsider its order.
Invoking Article 142 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court had directed that custody of the children be restored to the adoptive parents by August 14, citing the ‘best interest of the child’ principle under the Juvenile Justice Act. The bench stressed the bonding between children and families and ordered quarterly monitoring by the State Legal Services Authority from November.
However, the state government filed a review plea arguing that returning the children to families from whom they were rescued would defeat child protection. Officials maintained the children were taken into custody during a trafficking probe and handing them back would legitimise illegal adoptions outside the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) framework. They added that the order bypasses statutory safeguards under the JJ Act and Adoption Regulations.
The petition also cited recent trafficking rackets unearthed in Telangana, including cases in Chaitanyapuri, Suryapet and Gopalapuram where infants were rescued. In some instances, traffickers posed as infertility clinics to sell babies. The petition termed restoring custody a “dystopic version of Stockholm Syndrome,” where victims may appear loyal to those who held them.
The controversy is widening. At least 17 trafficking cases are already pending before the Telangana High Court. Following the apex court’s Medipally order, 14 more couples claiming to be adoptive parents rushed to court with lunch motions seeking custody of children in Sishu Vihar. For now, the four children at the centre of the case remain in Sishu Vihar. An official told Deccan Chronicle that the government will continue reviewing petitions until children are released only through statutory adoption.
