Thirteen days after a baby boy was stolen from the civic run Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital’s maternity ward, parents of the baby had filed a habeas corpus petition in the Bombay High Court after facing dejection from all quarters. In the petition, the parents — Mohan and Mohini Nerulkar—have sought response from the hospital, state government and the police investigating the matter.

Counsel appearing for the hospital told a division bench of Justice Bilal Nazki and Justice Anoop Mohta that the hospital has appointed an internal committee to probe into the matter and a report has been submitted to the Municipal Commissioner.

The court however asked why no action has been taken against the staff responsible for this. Petitioner’s advocate Amit Karkhanis pointed out the glaring irregularities and argued on how the woman who stole the baby was present in the hospital at 7 am when the visiting hours are from 4 pm to 7 pm.

The couple has claimed that the police are not helpful and not doing enough to find the baby even after pointing out several lapses in the hospital administration. The couple also alleged that there is some kind of racket as it is not possible for a woman to walk in the ward as early as 7 in the morning without being frisked.

There is someone from inside the hospital who had helped the woman in abduction as this is not the first case in the hospital, the petitioners claim.

According to Karkhanis, the petition primarily focuses on finding the missing child within stipulated time decided by the court. In the petition, the family has also mentioned of threat perspective to baby’s life.