Mr. Sven Olof Edvin Persson vs Indian Council For Child Welfare on 1 April, 2011
IN THE COURT OF SMT. PRATIBHA RANI
DISTRICT JUDGE-I : DELHI
GUARDIANSHIP CASE No. 54/2011
Unique I.D No.02401C0093032011
IN THE MATTER OF:
1. Mr. Sven Olof Edvin Persson
2. Mrs. Ellen Maria Lammert Persson
Both residents of
Akannavagen 61,43540 Molnlycke
Sweden
Through their Attorney:
Ms. Loraine Campos
Adoption Officer,
Delhi Council for Child Welfare,
Qudsia Garden,
Civil Lines, Delhi.
.... Petitioners.
Versus
1. Indian Council for Child Welfare,
4, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg,
New Delhi - 110 002.
2. Delhi Council for Child Welfare,
Qudsia Garden,
Civil Lines, Delhi.
.....Respondents.
Date of institution of petition : 26.02.2011
Date on which order was reserved :01.04.11
Date of pronouncement of judgment::01.04.11
J U D G M E N T:
The case of the petitioners as disclosed in the petition is that they are Swedish Nationals. They were married on 23.08.2008. Due to medical reasons, they could not have any biological child of their own. They are very fond of children. They have not adopted any child so far. They have expressed their willingness to be appointed as joint guardians (G.P.54/11) ( page 1 of 5) of minor female child Baby Rhea with permission to adopt her according to local laws of their country.
2. It is stated that minor female child namely Baby Rhea (born on 20.09.2005) was abandoned by some unknown person outside the gate of respondent No.2 institution on 31.03.2009. The date of birth of the minor child Baby Rhea has been assessed as 20.09.2005 after medical examination. Co-ordinating Voluntary Adoption Resource Agency (CVARA) and Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) have given clearance/ no objection for inter country adoption of the child. The petitioners, through their Attorney Ms. Loraine Campos have moved the present petition under Sections 7 & 26 of the Guardians & Wards Act, 1890 praying that they be appointed as the guardians of the minor female child namely Baby Rhea and they be permitted to remove the minor child outside the jurisdiction of this court for her eventual adoption according to local laws of their country.
3. Notice of the petition was issued to the respondents and citation was also affixed on the Notice Board of the Court House. Respondent no.1 has filed its reply stating therein that it has no objection if the prayer of the petitioners is allowed. Respondent No.2 did not opt to appear and contest the petition despite service of notice.
4. In support of the petition, Ms. Loraine Campos, Attorney of petitioners proved Power of Attorney executed by the petitioners in her favour as Ex.P1. She tendered her evidence vide affidavit Ex.PW1/A wherein she reaffirmed the averments made in the petition. She has placed & proved on record child approval as Ex.P2; declaration of willingness as Ex.P3; sponsoring Agency letter, issued by Adoptions Centrum, Sweden as Ex.P4; Home study report as Ex.P5; declaration of health of the petitioners as Ex.P6; certificate of infertility of petitioner No.2 as Ex.P7; employment certificates of the petitioners as Ex.P8 & P9 respectively; marriage certificate of the petitioners as Ex.P10, Financial state of affairs of the petitioners as Ex.P11; Bank certificate as Ex.P12;
(G.P.54/11) ( page 2 of 5) and photographs of the petitioners Ex.P13.
5. Ms. Tarini Bahadur, Secretary, Delhi Council for Child Welfare, has tendered her evidence vide affidavit Ex.RW1/A. She placed and proved on record Child Study Report as Ex.R-1; Photograph of the minor as Ex.R-2; Clearance Certificate for placement of the minor child in inter-country adoption, issued by CVARA as Ex.R-3; No Objection certificate issued by CARA as Ex.R-4 and certificate of abandonment issued by Child Welfare Committee, New Delhi as Ex.R5. She testified that minor female child namely Baby Rhea was abandoned by some unknown person outside the gate of respondent No.2 institution on 31.03.2009. The date of birth of the minor Baby Rhea has been assessed as 20.09.2005 after medical examination. The child was declared to be abandoned child and legally free for adoption by the Child Welfare Committee. No Indian family living in India or abroad is willing to take the minor child as the child is deaf and dumb. She also testified that their institution has no objection if the petition is allowed.
6. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and have gone through the records carefully.
7. Section 7 of the Guardians & Wards Act provides that for appointment of the guardian, paramount consideration is the welfare of the minor. An application under Section 7 must be decided in the discretion of the court after due consideration of the matters provided under Section 17 of the Act, namely the personal law of the minor, the age, sex and religion of the minor, the character and capacity of the proposed guardian, the wishes if any, of a deceased parent, any existing or previous relations of the proposed guardian with the minor or his property and the wishes of the minor if he is old enough to form an intelligent preference. Section 26 relates to the removal of ward/ minor outside the jurisdiction of the court. Permission to remove the minor outside the jurisdiction of the court may be granted for good and sufficient grounds especially for the welfare of the minor.
(G.P.54/11) ( page 3 of 5)
8. It is manifest from the pleadings and evidence adduced on record that the petitioners were married on 23.08.2008 and no child has been born to them out of their wedlock. Infertility certificate Ex.P5 depicts that Ms. Ellen Maria Lammert Persson (petitioner No.2) is infertile due to premature menopaus. Perusal of statement of RW1, coupled with Child Study Report Ex.P1 shows that minor female child namely Baby Rhea (born on 20.09.2005) was abandoned by some unknown person outside the gate of respondent No.2 institution on 31.03.2009. The date of birth of the minor child Baby Rhea has been assessed as 20.09.2005 after medical examination. No Indian family living in India or abroad is willing to take the minor child as the child deaf and dumb. It is apparent from the Document Ex.R-3 that CVARA (Coordinating Voluntary Adoption Resource Agency, New Delhi) has given its clearance for placement of the minor child in inter-country adoption. Document Ex.R4 depicts that CARA has given no objection for placement of minor child to the petitioners. As regards the petitioners, perusal of statement of PW1, coupled with documents Ex.P8 and P9 depicts that petitioner No.1 is employed as Interior Design Manager with Volvo Car Corporation; whereas petitioner No.2 is Managing Director of Galvano Lammert AB and that their gross annual income is SEK 5,48,400/- & SEK 4,94,000/- (equivalent to INR 36,41,434,30/- & 32,80,212/-) respectively. Thus, it can be inferred that the petitioners are capable to maintain themselves as well as the female child to be adopted and it will be in the welfare of the minor female child if the prayer of the petitioners is allowed.
9. In the result, I allow the petition and appoint petitioners as the guardians of minor female child namely Baby Rhea (born on 20.09.2005). Petitioners are also permitted to remove the child outside the jurisdiction of this court for the purposes of her eventual adoption according to the local laws of the country to which the petitioners are the subject. The petitioners are directed to execute a surety bond in the sum of Rs.5,00,000/- (Rupees Five Lakhs) with an undertaking to (G.P.54/11) ( page 4 of 5) produce the said child before this Court as and when required and to send her quarterly progress reports through the agency, to this court as also to respondent No.1, for a period of two years and half yearly progress reports thereafter, until she attains the age of majority or her adoption is complete according to the laws of their country, whichever is earlier. After completion of formalities, necessary certificate be issued in favour of the petitioners. File be consigned to record room.
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