2-yr-old adopted kid caught in crossfire of family drama

CHENNAI: Two brothers - one a former associate professor and the other a managing director of an engineering institute - had a fallout over property and ended up dragging a two-year-old child ‘adopted by the family’ to court, fighting over the child’s custody.

The child was legally adopted by the elder brother and his wife in August 2021, six months after she was born.

The younger brother, a divorcee, signed as the witness in all concerned documents. He was divorced in 2012 and did not get the custody of his two daughters and had only visitation rights until they turned major.

Meanwhile, the brothers, who were living in the same house till August 2022, had a fallout over the property after which the elder brother moved out with his wife, twin biological daughters, aged 4 and the adopted child.

On February 28, this year, the elder brother filed a complaint with the Tambaram city police claiming that his brother ‘abducted’ his child. He also claimed that the child is in illegal custody and subsequently filed a habeas corpus petition before the Madras high court.

The ‘abduction’ in question had happened at a Mall on Rajiv Gandhi Salai (OMR) in December 2022, two months before the police complaint was filed.

During court proceedings, it was unravelled that the younger brother, who heads an Engineering college took the child from the adoptive parents claiming that he would return the child after a couple of days, but did not.

The court had initially referred the case to mediation and since the brothers did not settle the issue amicably, legal proceedings followed.

The counsels for the younger brother submitted that the whole adoption was devised through his elder brother and his wife as adoption laws in the country do not allow a single male to adopt a girl child.

“The arrangement was by consent and therefore it cannot be termed illegal custody,” the counsel argued and contended that the elder brother is now attempting to monetise the situation.

After perusing the submission, a division bench of the High Court noted that the elder brother’s family with two biological children is supported by a court order that declares them as the parents to the adopted child.

“Therefore, even if the allegation of the elder brother and his spouse demanding money to leave the child in the custody of the younger brother is true, this Court cannot endorse such a course as it is contrary to the statute,” the bench noted.

The court noted that the issue is only a product of disputes between the siblings and has nothing to do with the minor child.

The court ordered the younger brother to hand over the child.