Overview

• A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale on July 16 dismissed a Pune couple’s petition, stating there is no constitutional right for Indian citizens to adopt a US-born child who is neither in need of protection nor in conflict with law
• The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and its Adoption Regulations do not provide for the adoption of foreign-national children between relatives unless the child qualifies as in need of care or is in conflict with law
• The Central Adoption Resource Agency refused to register the couple as prospective adoptive parents because its regulations exclude American citizens from facilitated adoption under Indian law
• The court instructed the petitioners to first finalise adoption formalities under American law or secure Indian citizenship for the boy before pursuing post-adoption recognition in India
• Justice Neela Gokhale observed that private relative adoptions of foreign-national children are incompatible with the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption, to which India is a signatory