Top court asks adoption authority CEO to appear over non-issuance of NOC
The Supreme Court has ordered the CEO of the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) to appear before it over the non-issuance of no objection certificates (NOCs) to a single adopting OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) mother to enable her to take her twin adoptive children, born to her brother by surrogacy, to the UK.
“Having heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Additional Solicitor General for the first respondent (CARA), we direct the CEO (Joint Secretary) of the Central Adoption Resource Authority to be present before this court on April 30 at 2 pm,” ordered a Bench led by Justice BV Nagarathna.
The order comes after the authority failed to comply with the top court’s March 24 order to issue an NOC — a must for taking an adopted child abroad — to the petitioner, a single adoptive OCI mother, within four weeks.
CARA has contended that before issuing NOCs, prior consent of the UK adoption authorities was essential under the Adoption Regulations, 2022.
However, the petitioners’ advocates Anil Malhotra and Ankit Malhotra submitted that their client — a citizen of the UK – adopted the children on January 9, 2020, under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA)-1956 and wanted to relocate them to London.
They said the procedure prescribed under the Adoption Regulations-2022 in regards to orphans, abandoned or surrendered children did not apply to Hindu adoptions.
They contended that both parents giving and undertaking adoption as also the twin children were Hindus by religion and governed by the Hindu Law alone. Thus, NOCs from CARA were essential under the Hague Adoption Convention, ratified by India, to enable the children to get British visas to join their adoptive mother living in the UK.
The convention recognises Hindu law adoptions upon verification by CARA. In this case, the District Magistrate of Chennai has already verified the adoptions under the HAMA.
Based on this verification, CARA was required to issue NOCs to enable the adopting parent to seek adoption certificate from the UK Family Court, where upon the UK immigration authorities would grant entry clearance certificate to enable the twin children to enter the UK.
India