Lawyer's glare on baby sale

TT, Jalpaiguri, Feb. 26: A lawyer who used to work for Chandana Chakraborty's NGO, accused of illegally selling infants to childless couples, today said as she had failed to produce proper documents for baby adoptions, he had disassociated himself from her.

Saikat Chatterjee, who is also the Jalpaiguri district Youth Trinamul president, said: "It is the district and sessions judge who is the guardian of any orphan child kept at any home in the district concerned. In case any childless couple approach a Specialised Adoption Agency (SAA) - homes run by NGOs and approved by Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) - a case needs to be filed at the court and a hearing is arranged. Back in 2013, Chandana appointed me to work for her SAA as a lawyer and work on the cases of 30 children. I filed around 18 cases so that necessary hearing could be conducted."

During the hearing, representatives of Child Welfare Committee, police authority, SAA and also the childless couple concerned, arrive and depose before court. The court then makes the final decision as whether the couple can be allowed to adopt the child.

As Chatterjee took up the case and asked for necessary documents, Chandana failed to give most of them.

"After that the SAA is no longer my client," said the lawyer.