New Delhi: Thirty five years after he was
adopted by a German couple, the Supreme Court today agreed to
examine the plea of a man claiming to be the offspring of the
brother of a union minister seeking a direction to help him
locate his biological mother.
A Bench of Justices Markandeya Katju and T S Thakur
initially expressed reluctance to pass any direction but later
adjourned the matter till Thursday after making some
observations.
According to the petitioner Arun Dohle, he was born on
July 31, 1973, at Sassoon Hospital in Pune. A German couple,
Michael and Gertrude Dohle, adopted him four weeks later from
the Kusumbai Motichand Mahila Seva Gram (KMMSG) after his
mother reportedly abandoned him.
He settled in Germany but later came back to India to
locate his biological mother.
Arun says he was actually kidnapped from his mother and
given away for adoption to a German family. He claims to be in
fact the son of the brother of a powerful NCP leader in the
UPA cabinet.
The lanky German national said he suspected the
institution had kidnapped him as a baby and separated him from
his mother.
He suspects that the abandonment theory was a ploy to
facilitate his adoption.
Arun, through counsel Senthil Jagadeesan in the apex
court, alleged that for the past eight years he has been
rebuffed by Kusumbai Motichand Mahila Seva Gram, an
institution for destitute women where his mother was last
known to reside. The Bombay police too refused to help him in
tracing his biological mother, he alleged.
The Bombay High Court had earlier in 2005 dismissed his
plea, following which he appealed in the apex court. In 2005,
the apex court had asked the Maharashtra Director General of
Police to place in a sealed cover a report on Arun`s
biological connection.
However, when the matter came up today for hearing the
sealed letter could not be traced in the files of the
registry, forcing the Bench to adjourn the matter till
Thursday.
But during the arguments, Justice Katju said the Supreme
Court cannot convert itself into Parliament and legislate as
otherwise the latter too would start deciding judicial
matters.
"The Supreme Court cannot convert itself into Parliament.
Otherwise, let Parliament be closed and let this court start
legislating. If we start legislating, tomorrow Parliament
would also start deciding cases saying courts are taking 20-30
years to decide litigations," the Bench said.
The Bench made the remarks when counsel for Arun argued
that the authorities were bound to disclose the identity of
his biological mother and cited a 1984 ruling of the apex
court in the Laxmikant Pandey case.
-PTI
