Mytreyi Bharadwaj who lives in Canada from nearly 43 years ago since she migrated to that place. She has been traveling to India frequently for the last 6 years in a hope to get her adopted girl Bimala who is living in Kolkota orphanage. Mytreyi want to take Bimala to her place Toronto so she is trying to do this from past six years but in vain.
Mytreyi adopted Bimala when she was only 4 years and 8 months when she found her via Canadian Government Licenced Adoption Association.
She was put to various interviews and there were home visits by the Canadian Government which later certified her to adopt the child. In 2009, Mytreyi and her daughter Maya were quite happy to meet Bimala during their visit to India. Mrs Bharadwaj had fulfilled all the process required for adoption in India under Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) and also Canada’s process was fulfilled which was required for international adoption.
She went through agonising waits in the court hall in her each visit to India where she got a change to read Supreme Court’s 2001 judgement of Laxmikant Pandey’s matter and found that laws make it compulsory to complete the adoption process within 2 months from the date of filing an application for adoption.
Judicial process that she went through was quite difficult for her, as her application was not accepted by Barasat District Court which is in West Bengal stating that Bimala’s adoption will make it impossible to monitor her welfare, as she would be taken out of court’s jurisdiction. Later the High Court of Calcutta also had rejected her petition and years passed, now Mythreyi is 53 years and Bimala is 11 years old who still lives in Orphanage. Mythreyi then moved Supreme Court via her lawyer Neela Gokhale where she had worse experience. Mythreyi’s petition is pending in apex court from nearly 1 1/2 years which has made her and her family are desperate and frustrated. Once SC had listed her petition to be heard before Lok Adalat on 11 April 2015 and so Mythreyi flew down from Toronto and Bimala was also brought before SC from Kolkota. ALthough CARA, and Union Government had put no objection before SC there is quite delay in this matter as the matter was further pushed stating that it was put wrongly before Lok Adalat as it was to be decided by a Judge.
By Sushma Javare