When the grandparents objected to the 5-month infant being given away, the Rajasthan High Court directed the parents to bring the child and present him before the court
The Rajasthan High Court today ruled that a five month old infant, who was given away by his parents in adoption to a religious guru in Madhya Pradesh, will stay with his parents.
After holding a special hearing, the interim order said, "The court cannot be a silent spectator when the rights of the minor child of five months are put to stake by his parents... in the name of religion."
Earlier, the grandparents of the child had petitioned the Court that the parents refused to be convinced that it was not in the child's welfare to be "given away" to a spiritual leader, Rameshwar Dayal.
The court directed the parents to go immediately to the Dada Darbar ashram in Khandwa and produce the child before the court. On July 23, the 55-year-old spiritual guru had adopted the child from his parents at a religious ceremony at his ashram.
Walking into the court with the baby in her arms, the child's mother, Puja, defended her decision. She said, "We gave our child to our guru of our own free will, there was no compulsion... I have done a PhD and my husband is a graduate...we thought of the child's welfare when we gave him away."
The grandparents were relieved to see their grandson. The main petitioner in the case and grandfather of the child, Rajendra Purohit said, "The child stayed in the ashram for seven days, he has lost weight and has loose motion and vomiting. Imagine what would have happened to him if he had stayed on there."
The court expressed extreme concern over the adoption, and that a man who has renounced the world and become a sanyasi, could become the natural guardian of such a young child.
For now the child will remain with his parents, the grandparents have been granted visitation rights. The court will hear the case again after four weeks.