A division bench of Justice Bilal Nazki and Justice A R Joshi asked the BMC to state what amount will it pay as compensation to the parents of the baby for the mental torture and agony they are going through.

The court made it clear that the sum should not be less than Rs 10 lakh.

Commenting on the reports submitted by BMC and the police, the court said its efforts are frustrated by the authorities. “You want to hide the reasons from the court,” the judges said.

The court asked the BMC as to why it had to initiate another departmental inquiry against two security officials for dereliction of duty. The police submitted that they are making sincere efforts to trace the child and the kidnapper. The court remarked that even a clerk could have filed the report submitted by them.

“The court adjourned the hearing till Thursday and directed the DCP Zone IV to be present in court. The BMC will also have to state tomorrow how much compensation it will pay,” said petitioners’ lawyer Amit Karkhanis.

The confidential inquiry and progress reports in the case were filed earlier by BMC inquiry committee and the Mumbai police. The BMC had submitted a report filed by the dean of Nair Hospital for fixing responsibility on the person concerned while the police detailed their progress in tracing the baby and the culprit.

City Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor had earlier submitted that all possible steps have been taken to trace the baby who went missing from Sion Hospital last month.

The BMC had informed the court that an inquiry committee headed by the dean of Nair Hospital has been constituted to fix the responsibility in the case.