Mumbai: The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) informed the Bombay High Court on Friday that it has handed custody of a child, who was abandoned by the mother, to his father, after rejecting it twice earlier.
A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Gauri Godse had rapped the CWC earlier for rejecting the biological father’s plea and asked the panel to reconsider the same in 48 hours.
The HC was hearing a habeas corpus (produce the person in court) petition filed by the father after the mother abandoned the child.
During the hearing on Friday, additional public prosecutor Prajakta Shinde said that the CWC had handed over the child to the biological father on Thursday. She then submitted the order passed by the CWC while handing over the child.
The judges were angry after pursuing the order which said that the child was handed over following an “oral direction” from the high court.
Justice Dere said: “What kind of order is this? Passing the buck to the court.” The bench noted that the CWC had said in the last hearing that it would revoke the July 21 order rejecting the father’s application. It further said that the CWC does not want to say it made a mistake.
Court considers training for CWC memebers
Shinde then took back the CWC order and said it will be put in its proper format. The judges said that they will pass an order on the petition on August 1.
“We feel this is a matter to be sent to the (Women and Child Welfare) Department to consider whether some training should be conducted for CWC members. This is a classic case,” the bench added.
According to the plea, father, then 19 and mother, then 17, eloped to Karnataka in 2021 after she became pregnant. She delivered on November 26, 2021. After they returned to Mumbai on March 4, 2022, the father was arrested under POCSO based on the girl’s father’s complaint.
The CWC, on March 7, 2022, sent the girl and the child to a shelter home. She then surrendered the child to CWC. As the youth’s parents did not receive a reply from the CWC for custody, he sought custody. He then approached the HC through advocate Ashish Dubey.
After HC rap, CWC revoked its order and the child was brought back to the shelter home. On July 21, CWC rejected application for custody. On Wednesday HC gave CWC 48 hours to reconsider the rejection.