Kerala HC refuses to entertain former SFI leader’s habeas corpus plea

A division bench of Justices Vinod Chandran and C Jayachandran observed that the child was not in illegal custody but with adoptive parents now

A division bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday declined to entertain a habeas corpus petition filed by former leader of the Students Federation of India (SFI) Anupama S Chandran seeking to produce her baby who was given up for adoption by her parents last year.

File photo: Anupama with her husband Ajith staging a fast outside Kerala secretariat. (Vivek R Nair/HT photo)

A division bench of Justices Vinod Chandran and C Jayachandran observed that the child was not in illegal custody but with adoptive parents now. Besides this, the family court in Thiruvananthapuram is hearing the issue in detail and there is no need of any intervention at this juncture. The court directed the counsel for Chandran to either withdraw the petition or it will be rejected on Wednesday when it takes it up again.

In the petition, Chandran argued that the newborn was given for adoption without her knowledge and all norms were flouted. She said she was in the dark about the baby for more than a year and often her parents give conflicting information about the adoption. She said the baby was forcibly removed from her on the third day of delivery and given up for adoption in August with the connivance of officials of the state council for child welfare.

Her father, Jayachandran, said he sent the baby to the government-run children’s home with his daughter’s consent. She signed on a stamp paper to that effect, he said, but the former said she did so under duress. Chandran’s one-day fast before the state secretariat last week for her child attracted national attention.