Point of law ; Rule 29(7) (c) of the Adoption Regulations, 2017 is also to the same effect. Section 61 of the Act, 2015, deals with the Court procedure and penalty against payment in consideration of adoption. According to sub-section (2) of Section 61, the adoption proceedings shall be held in camera and the case shall be disposed of by the Court within a period of two months from the date of filin.

ORDER :

1. This writ petition is filed ‘to declare the action of the respondents in unreasonably delaying and not disposing of the petitioners’ case to adopt the minor child ‘Yesu Babu’ within the time-limits prescribed in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (for short ‘the Act’) and the Adoption Regulations, 2017 (for short ‘Regulations 2017’) as illegal and arbitrary and a consequential direction to the 5th respondent to expeditiously number, process and dispose of the petitioners’ Adoption OP filed/received on 26.02.2021 along with all related applications, petitions etc.

2. Case of the petitioners is that, they are the citizens of Italy and are husband and wife; as they could not conceive a child naturally, they have adopted a female child from India in April, 2016 when the child was seven years old; as they wanted to adopt one more child, they have submitted an application to the Italian authorities along with reports and other documents, such as Home Study report (HSR), their psychological evaluation and personological evaluation, commitment for adoption, third party opinions/affidavits etc. and thereafter, they have filed an application before the Juvenile Court of Milan, Italy with No. 227/2018 A1; the said Italian Court was pleased to pass a decree dated 15.05.2019 declaring that the petitioners are suitable to adopt a single foreign minor child and that the adoption process must be initiated within a period of one year from the date of decree; pursuant to the said decree, the “Association Mehala-Child and Family’ which is the authorised foreign adoption agency (AFAA) has registered them in the Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS) portal with Registration No. EITA-201993067 and further recommended the petitioners to the Indian Authorities for the purpose of adopting a child; the 2nd respondent-CARA has found the petitioners eligible under Section 57 of the Act and Regulation 5 of the Regulations, 2017 and the said AFAA has recommended a child by name ‘Yesu Babu’ through CARINGS portal for adoption; petitioners accepted the recommendation by signing and returning the Child Study Report and the child’s medical examination report on 26.06.2020 sent by the Indian Authorities; the said child is an abandoned child, deserted in infancy by his biological parents and referred to the Child Welfare Committee in the year 2015; the child was admitted to the 4th respondent, vide order dated 13.10.2015 under Section 38 of the Act; the child is a child with special needs and his psycho diagnostic report dated 11.06.2019 states that he was ‘not able to understand instructions’, ‘not able to sit at one place’ and ‘not able to speak age appropriately’ recommendation was made to the speech therapy and for behaviour therapy; the District Child Protection Unit and the Child Care Institution have submitted a declaration to the effect that they have made restoration efforts, to find the biological parents as required under Section 40(1) of the Act, but nobody approached them claiming to be biological parents; consequently, the Child Welfare Committee has issued a certificate dated 26.04.2019 declaring that the child ‘Yesu Babu’ is legally free for adoption and he was registered in the CARINGS portal with No. AP-40SAA-0115 for adoption under Section 56(1) of the Act; the 2nd respondent-CARA has given no objection certificate No. ITA/2019/659-CARA dated 05.08.2020 under the Adoption Regulations, 2017 in favour of the proposed adoption.

3. As the petitioners who are prospective adoptive parents have satisfied all the conditions under Section 59 of the Act and other Indian laws and regulations, the 4th respondent, who is the recognised specialised adoption agency under Section 65 of the Act and the 3rd respondent, have together filed an adoption OP before the Judge, Family Court, Vijayawada and the same was stamped on 26.02.2021; petitioners were joined as the ‘prospective adoptive parents’