In an important ruling, the Nagpur bench of the High Court of Bombay on Friday upheld a family court order, refusing to grant custody of a 6-year-old boy to his poor biological parents, observing that the interests of the child will be best served by continuing him with his rich adoptive parents, a childless couple from Nagpur.
The division bench comprising Justice AS Chandurkar & Justice NB Suryawanshi said there was sufficient evidence on record to prove that the adoptive parents were in a better position to take care of the welfare of the child.
“They (adoptive parents) are taking care of his health, education, intellectual development & are giving him, favourable surroundings & they are imbibing moral & physical values in the child,” said the bench. “In our considered opinion, they are in a better position to look after the moral & physical welfare & the future of the child.”
The observation came in the view of the fact that the adoptive parents belonged to a business family & the adoptive mother was a practising doctor, whereas the biological father, an autorickshaw driver lacked a steady source of income & his financial condition didn't appear to be sound.
Besides, High Court noted, the auto-driver was married & having 2 children, & the child in question was born out of his extra-marital relationship with another woman, who later joined his family & also delivered another girl child.
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The boy was born on Aug 30, 2014, at a private hospital in Nagpur & the next day the child & his mother were discharged from the hospital. However, the father of the unwed mother, could not take his daughter & her illegitimate child to his home because of social constraints, his daughter being an unwed mother.
Five days after the delivery, the newborn was diagnosed with jaundice. The helpless father of the unwed mother then decided to hand over the child to the childless married son of his employer, a cloth store owner.
In Feb 2015, the unwed mother again came in contact with the auto driver when she stepped out for medical treatment. She then joined his company & began demanding custody of the six-year-old. After the adoptive parents refused to part with custody of the child, in May 2015, they moved the family court at Nagpur seeking custody of the child on the ground of being his biological parents & contending that adoption was alien to Islamic Law.
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The adoptive parents also filed a counter-petition for their appointment as guardians of the child.
Two years later the family court rejected the claim of the biological parents & appointed the adoptive parents as guardians of the child. The biological parents had then moved HC in an appeal against the family court order.
On Friday, the HC dismissed the appeal primarily because the auto driver lacked steady & regular income & had the responsibility to maintain two wives & three children. Besides, he was residing in a tin-shed house.
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While dismissing the appeal, HC also took into consideration that the child was handed over to the adoptive parents from the 5th day of his birth & since then the child was nurtured & brought up by them.
The HC said that “The child is now six years of age & naturally he is mentally & emotionally attached to them (adoptive parents). The child has developed a bond with them".
The Court added that “They both appear to be in a position to look after the child & to provide adequate facilities to him in a proper & congenial manner,” said the bench. “In case the child’s custody is handed over to biological parents, it would cause emotional turmoil to the child. He will be uprooted from the present family & the surroundings in which he is brought up & will be required to go in alien surroundings & circumstances, in which it would be difficult for him to adjust".
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