HC declares Christian couple as ‘adoptive parents’ to minor Hindu girl

However, judge reprimands the U.S. citizens for trying to adopt the child under a wrong law

The Delhi High Court has declared a Christian couple, both U.S. citizens, as ‘adoptive parents’ to a minor girl born out of Hindu parents while reprimanding them for trying to adopt the child under a wrong law.

The High Court reiterated that Christian and Muslim couples could not adopt a Hindu child under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA), as was sought to be done in this case.

“The Adoption Deed drawn up under the HAMA is invalid as the parties are Christians and not Hindus,” Justice Asha Menon said, taking note of the fact that the child, now more than 6-years-old, had been under the custody of the adoptive parents since her birth.

Justice Menon said the child was being well taken care of by the foster parents and their family and hence “there is no cause to remove the child from their charge and custody.”

Hindu adoption law

The High Court said the personal law of the Hindus recognised adoption. “Therefore, the adoption ceremony known as ‘Datta Homam’, where the biological parents voluntarily surrender and hand over the child to the recipient, following religious ceremonies, was considered sufficient to result in a valid and legal adoption,” it said.

The relationship of the biological family to the child given in adoption extinguished when this ceremony was conducted. However, this right to adopt had been brought under the HAMA which laid down certain limitations on who could adopt and who could be adopted and what were the other conditions for a valid adoption.

HAMA was applicable only to Hindus, and specifically provided that it applied to “any other person who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by religion”, the court clarified.

“However, as far as Muslims and Christians are concerned, their personal laws do not recognise adoption. As HAMA excludes them, they cannot seek to adopt a child in terms of that Act, including by means of a registered document recording an adoption,” the court added.

However, Justice Menon said that a person interested in adopting a child was not limited by his or her religion, if adoption was sought under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

‘Wrong procedure’

The adoptive parents had moved the court seeking directions to the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) to issue a ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) to enable them to take their ‘adopted child’ to the U.S.

They claimed that a social worker came across the biological parents of the child, migrant manual labourers in Ferozepur District, Punjab, who had already lost two babies.

When the child was born on December 11, 2014, the social worker, along with the self-help group women, visited the house of the biological parents. There, they found that the mother was unable to feed the infant.

They then took the child on December 12, 2014 to a paediatrician, who declared that the child was so severely malnourished that she may not survive the night with her biological parents.

The adoptive parents stated that on December 18, 2014, after performing customary rituals in respect of the adoption in the presence of the panchayat elders, the biological parents of the minor executed the Adoption Deed thereby giving the child in adoption to them.

Their difficulties arose when they sought a passport for the child to enable them to take the child to the U.S.A. where they were employed.

The CARA had submitted that the couple had not validly adopted the minor, therefore, it could not issue the NOC.

Justice Menon noted that the couple had looked after the minor child as a “foster family” since the time the minor was handed over to them immediately after birth. To avoid further delay in the adoption process, the High Court directed the CARA to issue the requisite NOC.

The court also asked the couple to furnish an undertaking that they would bring up the minor as their own biological child and give her adequate educational and other developmental opportunities within their means and take care of her medical needs.

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