4-year-old adopted by Australian aunt moves HC for passport

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court on Wednesday issued notices to the Centre and other authorities concerned, including the Regional Passport Office (RPO), after a four-year-old girl filed a petition because her adoptive Australian parents were unable to apply for her passport.

According to the submissions made by the petitioner's advocate in the HC, the child was adopted by her father's sister, an Australian citizen, two years ago. The adoption took place by way of a registered adoption deed. When the adoptive parents began the process of taking the child to Australia, things hit a roadblock.

The agency responsible for adoption immigration informed the adoptive parents that many cases of migration through adoption under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act were under the Australian govt's scrutiny. Once the agency receives clearance from the Australian govt, the process for taking the adopted child to Australia will proceed further. Until then, the child could be taken to Australia through any other valid immigration process, but not through adoption.

The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the adoptive parents then initiated the process of getting the child's passport in India, as she is an Indian citizen. However, this too was not possible because the adoptive parents cannot file an application online. This is because the adoptive parents, being Australian citizens, must supply a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) confirming that the adoption is valid. The adoptive parents have applied to CARA, but the agency has not issued an NOC, stating that it was waiting for confirmation from the Australian authorities on this subject, the petitioner's advocate submitted in the court.

The petitioner's lawyer further argued that even if the child does not travel to Australia on the strength of her adoption by Australian citizens, it is her right to have an Indian passport so that a different process for travel could be resorted to.

After the preliminary hearing, Justice Aniruddha Mayee issued notices to the Centre, RPO, and CARA, seeking their reply by Oct 29.