He said they have been staying in the home since 2008 when they were aged four and five. Their mothers hardly visited them.
Chandrachud said reservation is provided for courses under the University of Health Sciences to an orphan. He said that if, technically, the girls can’t be termed ‘orphan’, they could be dubbed ‘abandoned children’. There would be no reason to not apply the reservation of ‘orphan’ to an ‘abandoned child’ as both are governed by the same Act, he said. Government pleader Poornima Kantharia said the girls cannot be considered abandoned and they are not orphans.
The judges said for a child to be an ‘abandoned child’ within the meaning of the Act, the child should be deserted by his/her biological or adoptive parents or guardians and is required to be declared an ‘abandoned child’ by a competent committee after inquiry. “Admittedly, mothers of these girls are alive and sometimes visit them. Unless declaration from the competent committee comes forth, the girls can’t be declared ‘abandoned’,” they said.
The judges directed the Foundation to apply to the committee to get the girls declared as ‘abandoned children’. The committee “may make due inquiry and take a decision” by November 14, it said.