London: A Sikh couple living in the UK has won a landmark court battle after they were racially discriminated against by a local council that did not allow them to go for adoption.
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Sandeep and Reena Mander were forced to adopt from overseas after the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council rejected their application to join a list of approved adopters because of their Indian roots, The Mirror reported.
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The couple living in Maidenhead in Berkshire were told that only white British pre-school children were available for adoption and their chances would improve if they looked to the sub-continent.
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The couple tried to get this 2016 decision reversed and even won the support of their local MP, the then Home Secretary Theresa May.
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Backed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the couple had sued the local authority for discrimination.
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After the hearing at the Oxford County Court that lasted four days, Judge Melissa Clarke ruled in favour of the couple — in their 30s — and ordered the council to pay each of them general damage of 29,454.42 pound (around Rs 27 lakh).
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