NGOs ask court to suspend intercountry adoptions
Two Pune-based NGOs, Sakhee and Advait Foundation, have moved the Supreme Court demanding the suspension of inter-country adoptions from India in the absence of a legislation governing the process. They urged the court to direct an absolute moratorium on the adoptions until Parliament enacts a law and amends the Juvenile Justice Act in consonance with the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, 1989.
The petition filed by the NGOs through their lawyers Kunal Cheema and Pradeep Havnur states,
Inter-country adoptions have been riddled with scandals since their inception and several attempts have been made to regulate them at an international level. There have been various scandals in India, which have been reported in the media. Inter-country adoptions have become a lucrative business.
Earlier, the NGOs had also filed a petition against Punes tainted Preet Mandir Shelter Home that allegedly carried out the sale of children under the guise of adoption by accepting exorbitant donations from adoptive parents. The Bombay High Court had ordered a CBI inquiry into the case.
The petitioners have sought a detailed investigation into the procurement of children through extortion, blackmail, threat to life, inhuman conditions of children in various agencies, subverting and bribing government officials and amassing illegal wealth and property for the purpose of inter-country adoption.
At present, there are 5,000 Indian families on the waiting list for adopting a child, whereas 600 to 800 children are annually sent in inter-country adoption by our country.