Calcutta HC orders CWC to return 3-year-old to couple despite adoption lapse

The Calcutta high court directed a Child Welfare Committee to return a three-year-old child. The committee had no legal basis to take custody of the child. The couple had been caring for the child since his birth in February 2023. The court noted the child was neither an orphan nor abandoned. The couple must now approach a court to establish their legal adoptive status.