JJ Act, CARA rules not for Hindu adoptive parents

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court has ruled that in case of direct adoption from biological parents by Hindu adoptive parents, even if they are of foreign nationality, there is no requirement to follow the procedure either under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, or the central adoption resource authority (CARA) adoption regulations.
The court has also made it clear that it would not be open to the passport officer going into the validity of an adoption at the time of the issuance of passport.Therefore, the passport officer cannot refuse the passport beyond the statutory provisions set out in Section 6 of the Passport Act.
The high court also said that valid adoption under Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA), 1956, of a minor child cannot be revoked until disproved.
The Act applies to all religions apart from Muslims, Christians, Parsis or Jews.
Justice Nirmaljit Kaur passed this judgment while allowing a petition moved by a minor girl, Jasmine Kaur seeking direction to the regional passport authority to issue her a passport by dispensing with the requirement of a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the CARA.
“It is not mandatory to invoke the JJ Act, 2015 in the facts of the present case where the adoption is a direct adoption by the parents to the known adoptive parents/relatives under HAMA… NOC from CARA is required only by foreign parents and not Indian parents,” said the court, while taking note of the detailed submissions of the amicus curiae, advocate Anil Malhotra, who specialises in such matters.
Therefore, the court directed the CARA to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) to the adoptive parents of the petitioner for taking their child to UK within two weeks. The regional passport office has been directed to immediately issue passport to the petitioner within two weeks of the receipt of NOC from CARA.
Jasmine and her twin sister were born on November 15, 2017, in India to her natural parents Manohar Lal and Gian Kaur. Jasmine was adopted by her mother’s real sister, Balbir Kaur and her husband as per the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA), 1956, in Thalla village of Punjab’s Jalandhar district on November 16, 2018. Balbir is an NRI, OCI card holder and citizen of the United Kingdom.
But when the petitioner, Jasmine applied for the passport along with all the relevant documents, she was refused the passport by the passport authority on the ground that NOC from CARA or photocopy from Recognized Indian Placement Agency (RIPA) was required.