A Malawi judge delayed his decision until next Monday on whether a coalition of human rights groups in the southern African nation can dispute the Material Mom's interim adoption of a 13-month-old boy.

Justice Andrew Nyirenda wanted more time to consider the case and determine whether another plaintiff, the Malawi Human Rights Commission, should be added to the suit which was filed by a consortium of 67 activist organizations who claimed the government skirted regulations in allowing Madonna to adopt the tyke.

The rights groups stress that they're not out to stop the 48-year-old pop superstar and her husband Guy Ritchie from adopting. Rather, they are attempting to ensure that government officials didn't confer preferential treatment on the couple because of their celebrity status.

The coalition contends that adoption officials made an end run around a rule requiring every adoptive parent to be a resident in the country for 18 to 24 months so local authorities can decide if they are fit to raise the child before a judge grants full adoption rights. As it stands, the Ritchies were in and out of the country with the boy, David Banda, in a matter of eight days in October.

However, Malawi officials have indicated that residency is not necessarily a requirement and asserted that social workers abroad would monitor the Ritchies for an 18-month period.

Failure to enforce such procedures are a big concern for the alliance, which is seeking an overhaul of outmoded adoption laws and closer monitoring to clamp down on abuse.

Madonna's Malawian legal eagle, Alan Chinula, maintained that the Ritchies went through necessary red tape.

The baby's father, Yohane Banda, has also voiced his opposition to the lawsuit, expressing concern that it could harm his son's future.

Editor: Donald