HYDERABAD: The Telangana high court on Wednesday said that it “is more concerned than anyone else” regarding the care and protection of children, including infants, who were rescued from an illegal child adoption and trafficking racket busted in Suryapet district in 2025.“This matter can become an eye-opener for the state. It’s not healthy that infants are not in the custody of their parents,” a division bench led by Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin said, while reviewing the implementation of Juvenile Justice Act in the state. The bench was hearing an appeal involving allegations of illegal adoption of infants.Stating that it was “happy with the women and child welfare department report”, the bench lauded the department for being “quite proactive”.The bench noted that the home department had not yet filed its report, and gave it another week to do so. Further, refusing to grant a visitation request filed by an adoptive couple to a three-year-old girl child currently lodged at Shishu Gruha, Nalgonda, the bench appointed senior counsel B Mayur Reddy to visit the children from the illegal adoption and trafficking racket and submit a report on their well-being and posted the matter to Sept 21 for further hearing.During the hearing, the bench posed specific questions to principal secretaries of home department Shikha Goel, women and Child welfare department Shruthi Ojha, and social welfare department Viziendra Boyi, appearing virtually. They explained to the bench welfare of the children under their care, funds allotted for their well-being, education, nutrition, functioning of child welfare committees in each district, and adoption procedures, and action taken against child trafficking and illegal adoption cases.On adoption procedures under Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), the court raised concern that in several cases, children were placed for adoption without following complete processes, and that the police had not in a single case traced biological parents despite adoptive parents being in custody of infants aged between two months and two years.
