Madras HC refuses couple custody of toddler they fostered after finding her on train

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court refused to declare a couple who fostered a toddler as eligible parents to adopt the child as it would result in adverse consequences.

The division bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and M Jothiraman held that foster parents would have been emotionally attached to the toddler they found on a train and provided medical and mental attention to the child, but that does not solely provide entitlement to the couple as the parents.

The bench dismissed the habeas corpus petition (HCP) moved by K Savithri seeking the custody of the baby girl taken from them by the Children Welfare Committee.

“The toddler is incapable of expressing emotions and feelings as she is around a year and a half. Hence, it would be inappropriate for the court to declare the petitioner and her husband as foster parents, enabling direct adoption without completing procedures under statutes,” the bench held.

The bench directed the State to take care of the toddler, trace her biological parents, and thereafter follow procedures to declare the child fit for adoption.

Savithri and her husband found the baby girl deserted on a train while travelling from Tirunelveli to Erode on February 20, 2023. The couple did not have any children in the 20 years of their marital life and decided to take the baby under their wing without reporting to the authorities concerned.

The Child Welfare Committee, while busting a child trafficking network in Erode, came to know that the couple held the toddler illegally and took over her custody.

Senior counsel R John Sathiyan for the petitioner relied upon an HC division bench granting the custody of a four-and-a-half-year-old kid to foster parents as the biological parents are unknown under section 4 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. He said that the couple submitted an application to adopt a child to the Central Adoption Resource Authority.