Decks cleared for Japanes Baby Manjhi to go home in Japan

The Grandmother of Baby Manjhi can now breath easy. The Central Government had decided not to object to her father's demand to take her to Japan. The case is likely to come up for hearing today in the Supreme Court. Justice Arijit Pasayat on the last hearing had asked the centre to explain if there are any laws to govern surrogacy in India.

According to sources the Solicitor General of India Goolam Vahanvati would be informing the court that the government has no problem if the father of child takes her to Japan. One NGO Satya, on the other hand had asked for the custody of Baby Manjhi. The government would also question the locus of the NGO in the whole case.

The court had earlier directed that the custody of the infant will remain with the grand mother till the matter is finally decided by the court. The grandmother of infant Manji had approached the Supreme Court, seeking that the child should not be separated from her and the father. She also sought requisition of relevant travel documents for the child, so that she could be deported safely to Japan.

The grandmother was forced to move the apex court, after she learnt that the custody of the child could not be given to the father as Indian laws do not permit a single father to adopt a girl child. Manji was born on the 25th of July after her biological parents Ikufumi Yamada and Yuki Yamada entered into a contract with a woman in Gujarat to become their child's surrogate mother. The problem started when a month before Manji was born, her biological mother divorced her husband and disowned the child.