Need to address distinction between orphaned and abandoned children: HC

Mumbai: After the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) informed the Bombay high court that it had issued a certificate of abandoned children to two young women, who sought the same for further education, the court held that there was a need to address the distinction between orphaned and abandoned children through the statute

Mumbai: After the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) informed the Bombay high court that it had issued a certificate of abandoned children to two young women, who sought the same for further education, the court held that there was a need to address the distinction between orphaned and abandoned children through the statute.

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The division bench of justice Gautam Patel and justice Neela Gokhale while hearing the petition by Nest India Foundation against the refusal of the concerned authorities to issue abandoned children certificate to two young women was informed by additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan for the state through CWC that it had complied with the courts order in the previous hearing and issued the certificates to the women.

The Nest India Foundation through advocate Abhinav Chandrachud had informed the bench that the two women had been taken care of by the foundation since their parents had abandoned them and as they aspire to become doctors, they needed an abandoned children certificate on the lines of orphaned children. However, the CWC had denied the same and the foundation had approached the HC.

In an earlier hearing, the government pleader had informed the bench that such a certificate could not be issued to abandoned children as they had someone to take care of them unlike orphans.

The bench was also told that the women were not minors anymore and their mother had visited them twice. The committee issuing the certificate had also asked the young women to produce a police verification report.

However, the bench said that the Juvenile Justice Act did not differentiate between an orphan and an abandoned child. The bench had noted that it expected less bureaucracy and more concern from the state in the matter, adding that the concerned children were not responsible for their plight and hence the two women should be granted the abandoned children certificate.

“These children are not responsible for their condition, why is the state implicitly saying to the children, ‘your parents abandoned you, too bad!’ Technically, neither of them is a child, what they are asking is a certificate of their tragic past, are we going to deny them that as well?” the bench had remarked.

When Chavan informed the bench that the certificates were issued, advocate Chandrachud said that the said action addressed a part of the problem but the distinction between “orphaned and abandoned children is artificial.”

The bench then remarked, “We believe there is an answer to be found within the statute itself,” and posted further hearing on the issue to March 2.