CUTTACK: The child swapping controversy hogging the SCB Medical College and Hospital has taken a new twist with the Orissa High Court on Thursday issuing directions for making the parents of a baby boy born an hour before the birth of the girl child as parties in the case. The division bench, comprising Chief Justice V Gopala Gowda and Justice SK Mishra, have fixed the next date of hearing to next week while ordering the SCBMCH authorities to discharge the wife of the petitioner Sushanta Mallick and keep the 19-day-old girl child in its proper care with all attention that she requires. As per the earlier direction of the court, the SCB authorities on Thursday filed an affidavit stating that there had been absolutely no wrong doing or foul play in the conduct of deliveries in the labour room of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology department. Furnishing all details on the births in the labour room on the day, head of the O&G department stated that about an hour before the petitioner’s wife delivered, one Nirupama Mallick, wife of Sukanta Mallick, had given birth to a male child at around 4.10 pm. Both the mother and child were shifted to the ward at about 5 pm while Rashmita gave birth at around 5.30 pm. Thus the allegation of the petitioner was not correct, the HoD stated. Taking into consideration the facts of the issue that both the women bore the same surname and the names of the father were quite similar and the demand for DNA test to establish the parentage, the bench ordered inclusion of Nirupama and Sukanta as parties and issued notice to them. Replying to the petition, the Government counsel also said there was no opposition to the DNA test. The petitioner, who has stood firm on his charge of baby swapping, has refused to accept the baby since its birth and has stayed put in the hospital since March 30. The petitioner has appealed to the court to issue directions for a DNA test and also an inquiry by an independent agency to get to the roots.
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