Karnataka High Court issues guidelines to be followed by CWCs when parents surrender children under Section 35 of Juvenile Justice Act

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday laid down guidelines to be followed by Child Welfare Committees (CWCs) when parents/ guardians surrender their children under Section 35 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 [JJ Act]. .A Division Bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice NS Sanjay Gowda said that CWCs have to conduct proper identification and check the genuineness of the parents who wish to surrender their children.Section 35 enables a parent or guardian to surrender a child before the CWC on the ground of physical, emotional and social factors beyond their control.It also mandates that CWC has to conduct a process of inquiry and counselling, and if it is satisfied, a surrender deed can be executed by the parent or guardian before the CWC.However, the State had not framed guidelines to regulate the process. In view of the same, the Court proceeded to lay down the following guidelines:.CWCs have to conduct proper identification of parents who wish to surrender their children for physical, emotional, and social factors beyond their control. Inquiry should be held on whether physical, emotional, and social factors are beyond the control of the parents. There cannot, however, be a straitjacket formula to ascertain such factors.CWCs have to meet parents individually as well as collectively to ascertain facts.CWCs should ascertain whether parents genuinely want to surrender the children and whether they are the biological parents.For this reason, CWCs are equipped to examine any other person, if the particular case demands. They need to make an in-depth inquiry to find out whether surrender of the child by the parents has serious effects on the rights of the child.CWC should take assistance of child psychologists of government medical institutions, who will provide counselling to the parents who wish to surrender their child. As per section 35 (2) of the JJ Act, satisfaction of CWC cannot be based on what is found in inquiry alone. In a given case, CWC can always take assistance of child psychologists or any counsellor having expertise to deal with children. Normally, satisfaction in terms of 35 (2) can be derived after completing process of inquiry and counselling.According to section 35 (2), CWC to give a minimum time of two (2) months to parents to reconsider the said decision of surrender. After two months, it is the duty of CWC to find out whether the parents have reconsidered their decision. CWC should bear in mind whether the application for surrender is genuine or is intended to benefit adoption agencies, who are engaging in all sorts of illegalities.CWC have to verify the certificate of registration and other credentials of adoption agencies..The Court was prompted to issue these guidelines while hearing a PIL petition filed by NGO Letzkit Foundation highlighting the “unfortunate” incident of abandonment of a two-week-old child by the parents. The couple in their early twenties, were in a live-in relationship and had left the child at a house of one of their friends, who subsequently intimated the incident to the police..The petition brought to the Court’s notice the need to protect the newborn child..The parents of the child had declined to take care of the baby, even after the Bench, along with additional government Advocate Vijayakumar A Patil and Amicus Curiae Advocate BV Vidyulatha made attempts to convince them during in-camera proceedings earlier.Currently, the child is being taken care of by an NGO.When the matter was taken up for hearing, the Bench deemed it fit to issue guidelines for the CWCs to conduct inquiry and counselling under Section 35 of the JJ Act (Surrender of Childer) as the State government had failed to frame the rules. .The Court also directed the State government to frame rules under Section 35 of the Juvenile Justice Act, within three months.The matter will be next heard on September 28.