Mumbai: The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has held that the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Chandrapur, acted “illegally” and without jurisdiction by taking custody of a five-yearold girl from a couple who had raised her since she was six days old.
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Justices Urmila JoshiPhalke and Nivedita P Mehta were hearing a petition by Manisha Chennurwar, 34, and Sanjay Chennurwar, 40. The couple, childless after marrying in 2014, took the girl into their care with her biological parents’ consent and executed a notarised adoption deed under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act.
The court said the prescribed Central Adoption Resource Authority procedure was not followed and notarisation did not constitute a valid adoption. However, this did not empower the CWC to take custody.
The dispute began in May 2026 after an NGO representative sought adoption documents. The couple were summoned by the CWC, which subsequently took the child away.
The court said the girl was neither orphaned nor abandoned and could not be classified as a “child in need of care and protection” under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.
Speaking to the FPJ, Manisha said she had pleaded unsuccessfully for her daughter’s return. Advocates Nihalsing Rathod and Maruti Kurwatkar represented the couple pro bono. Kurwatkar said the law had prevailed and offered assistance to similarly affected parents.
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