Delhi HC Slams CARA for delay, orders immediate NOC for Australia-based couple

Justice Sachin Datta noted that the adoption was lawfully completed in 2020 and found no valid reason for CARA to withhold the NOC.

NEW DELHI: In a strong rebuke to bureaucratic delays, the HC has directed the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) to immediately issue a no-objection certificate to an Australia-based couple who had been unable to take their adopted son abroad for over four years.

Justice Sachin Datta noted that the adoption deed was executed in 2020 and observed that the adoption had been lawfully concluded under the applicable legal framework. Hence, there was no legitimate reason for CARA to withhold the NOC.

CARA argued that, under the Adoption Regulations 2022, children adopted under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA) require documentation from the receiving country’s authority under the Hague Convention, 1993. It further claimed the adoption deed was registered using a General Power of Attorney (GPA), allegedly invalid under Queensland law.

The Court cited a recent Supreme Court case where CARA was directed to issue an NOC to a UK-based single woman. Justice Datta also referenced Article 37 of the Hague Convention, stating that adoptions under HAMA must be judged by its provisions and cannot be subjected to retrospective international conditions.

Highlighting that Australian authorities had requested CARA’s support letter and that the District Magistrate of Bathinda had already issued required certificates, the Court ruled there was no basis for delay. CARA’s objection to the GPA was also dismissed, with the Court referring to Narinderjit Kaur v. Union of India, affirming a child can be adopted under parents’ authority.