- विज्ञापन -
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court ruled that an Indian citizen does not have a fundamental right to adopt a child of American nationality from among relatives if the child is neither “in need of care and protection” nor in conflict with the law.
A division bench comprising Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale rejected a plea by an Indian couple seeking to adopt their relative’s son, who is a US citizen by birth. The court stated that the child does not meet the criteria of a “child in need of care and protection” or a “child in conflict with law” as defined under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and Adoption Regulations.
The court clarified that neither the Juvenile Justice Act nor the Adoption Regulations allow for the adoption of a foreign citizen’s child, even between relatives, unless the child falls within these specific categories. It also declined to exercise exceptional jurisdiction to permit adoption on the grounds of a fundamental right, emphasizing that there is no such right for the petitioners to adopt a US-born child.
Furthermore, the court held that there is no violation of the child’s fundamental rights by not permitting the adoption and that the couple must complete all adoption procedures under US law before proceeding with the post-adoption formalities to bring the child into India.
The couple had wanted to adopt their relative’s child, born in the US in 2019, who had been brought to India when he was a few months old and was living with them. The Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) refused to register the couple as prospective adoptive parents, citing the lack of provisions in the Adoption Regulations for adopting a child of foreign nationality unless the child is in need of care or in conflict with law.
CARA clarified that the adoption cannot proceed without the child first being legally adopted under US laws. The bench dismissed the petition, indicating it was not inclined to allow the adoption.
