Delhi High Court Directs CARA To Issue NOC To NRI Couple For 2011 Adoption

Directing CARA to issue an NOC within 30 days to an NRI couple for adoption

of a child, the Delhi High Court in a ruling said the application being prior to

the coming into force of Adoption Regulations, 2022, the "adoption would not

be strictly required to be dealt with in the procedure prescribed in the said

Regulations."

"The Court finds that in the present case the adoption dates back to 2011

and the application seeking NOC was filed much before the Regulations

came into force on 23rd September, 2022. The Regulations have been

notified and current applications, would require verification by the District

Magistrate," said the court.

Justice Prathiba M. Singh said a declaratory decree has already been passed

in the case and a home study report has already been prepared. "The

adoption deed is a registered adoption deed," said the court.

Though Director CARA Jagannath Pati told the court that the District

Magistrate has already been contacted and is likely to send the verification

shortly, the court said:

"Irrespective of whether the DM’s verification, is received or not, in the unique

facts of this case, which predates the coming into force of the Regulations,

the NOC shall now be processed and issued by Respondent to the Petitioners

within a period of 30 days from today, subject to availability of all documents

on the record of CARA," said the court.

The petitioners adopted a child from her biological parents in 2011, and an

adoption deed was registered in the same year.

When they filed an application before the UK border agency for entry

clearance, it was rejected due to lack of a ‘No Objection’ from the Indian

adoption agency. Thereafter, repeated attempts were made from 2011 to

2016 to obtain an NOC from CARA. The CARA in response said that an

adoption under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 was not

covered.

Subsequently, the petitioners filed a suit for declaration under Section 34 of

the Specific Relief Act, 1963 and a decree declaring them to be the legal

adoptive parents of the child was passed in 2017. The petitioners, thereafter,

requested CARA to recognise the adoption and to issue the NOC under the

Hague Convention. After CARA failed to issue the NOC, the petitioners filed a

writ petition before the high court.

Case Title: Anil Kumar Singh & Anr. versus Union of India

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 38

Counsel for the Petitioners: Karan S. Thukral, Advocate

Counsel for the Respondents: Sushil Kr. Pandey, SPC, with Kuldeep Singh

Advocates; Sumit Bhargava, Advocate with J. Pati, Director for CARA