Man's plea for child custody exposes 'unlivable' home

HC raps govt, orphanage for neglect

Expressing anguish over deplorable condition of an orphanage run by an NGO, the Delhi High Court has formed a team to inspect the home.

It also slammed the state government for not improving the place and sought its suggestion to relocate children.

Taking note of a report submitted by advocate Richa Kapoor, who was appointed as court commissioner, a bench of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice S P Garg directed the women and child development ministry to give a list of such homes run by NGOs by May 25. The report stated that the home was “uninhabitable”.

The bench has formed a five-member committee comprising secretary or her nominee of Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA), director of the child welfare committee concerned, a psychologist and a paediatrician from Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya, Geeta Colony.
Kapoor has asked the DCP of the area to inspect the orphanage ‘Apna Ghar’ at Mansarovar Park in Shahdara.

Issuing a notice to the management of the NGO ‘Children of Mother Earth’, the court sought a reasonable response.

“The secretary of women and child development ministry and the state government must file a detailed affidavit, listing out the number of such homes or institutions, and also mention the total number of children each institution has,” the court said.

The court came to know of the situation in the children home while hearing a man’s plea, seeking custody of his child following a matrimonial discord. He alleged that his child was lodged in an orphanage that was in a dilapidated and unhygienic state.

On May 17, the court appointed Kapoor as the commissioner, who then filed a report: “The premise where 30 children are housed is in an utterly dilapidated condition. The records of the orphanage do not appear to be in any order, much less maintained in a systematic manner. Some children appear to be neglected and suffering from serious ailment.”

“It is further unclear how many children have got parents or how many are orphans,” the report said.

Taking a serious view of the report that the management of the orphanage and the CWC have failed to provide the total number of children staying there, the bench asked the committee to “take immediate and urgent steps for rehabilitation of children”.

The government was directed to follow the advice of the committee and take steps to relocate the children on an urgent basis.

“It has to be emphasised that the official concerned had directed the police, without even seeing the condition of the child, who has got parents, to place him in an orphanage,” said the bench.