Point of Law : Procedure for inter-country adoption of an orphan or abandoned or surrendered child - Required Certificate of Adoption is issued by Registrar General of this Court with photographs of minor child and her adoptive parents, copy/duplicate of which shall be placed on this file. Case maintained permanently.

JUDGMENT :

ASHA MENON, J.

[VIA VIDEO CONFERENCING]

1. The petition has been filed by Mr.JS and Mrs.MS, who describe themselves as the adoptive parents of a minor named JJS, seeking directions to the Central Adoption Resource Authority (“CARA”, for short) to issue a ‘No Objection Certificate’ (“NOC”, for short) to them, which would enable them to take their “adopted child”, the above-said minor, to the United States of America (USA). Directions have also been sought to Union of India (“UOI”, for short) for issuance of a passport to the minor mentioning the petitioners as her parents.

2. This case reflects how easily it is possible to set at naught the law intended to protect the welfare, well-being and the rights of the minors. A complete go by has been given to the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, (“JJ Act”, for short), whether of 2015 or of 2000.

3. After having so carelessly flouted the law of this land, a plea of humanitarian concerns is flashed before the court, expecting the court to discharge the burden of undoing the wrongs and simultaneously exonerating the wrongdoers!

4. Child trafficking is a pernicious practice that the State has sought to address by various legislative means. Since trafficking occurs also for the purpose of adoption, in addition to all other reasons, actions, internationally and nationally, have been taken, to prevent it happening, by prescribing the method and process for adopting a child. Despite that, people, who are well educated, circumvent all such provisions for their private gain.

5. The JJ Act, as also the Adoption Regulations, 2017, notified by the UOI on 4th January, 2017 and which came into force w.e.f 16th January, 2017, and before that, the CARA Guidelines issued in the light of the judgment of the Supreme Court in Lakshmi Kant Pandey v. Union of India (1984) 2 SCC 244, were all aimed at ensuring that the sourcing of the child is known and no trafficking occurs during adoption, particularly international adoptions. These essentially follow the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Inter-country Adoption, 1993 (hereinafter referred to as the “Hague Convention”), in cases of foreign adoptions. The Hague Convention seeks to also ensure that the adopted child is not left in the lurch in a foreign land, in the event the adoption does not work out or subsequently, some problems arise.

6. The CARA has been set up as the Central Agency to regulate adoption within the country and facilitate international adoption as per the recommendation of the Hague Convention. CARA is the National Agency as defined in the JJ Act. There are State Adoption Resource Agencies (“SARA”, for short) also defined in JJ Act. Their counterparts have been set up by the respective governments in several other countries and it is through them that CARA ensures that children, who are adopted from this country, are well taken care of. As required under the Hague Convention, CARA has recognized certain agencies to facilitate “in-country” and “inter-country adoption”.

7. The Guidelines/Rules provide that before adoption, the Child Welfare Committee (“CWC”, for short) has to be satisfied that the child is fit for adoption [Regulation 4(a) of the Adoption Regulations, 2017]. The fitness for adoption would be on account of the child being an orphan or having been abandoned or surrendered. In the case of surrender, the CWC is required to assure itself that the biological parents have willingly surrendered the child and for good reason. When the CWC is determining the fitness of an abandoned child, they are obligated to ensure that a proper inquiry and search for the biological parents is made. If none is traceable, then such a child is also declared fit for adoption. Pending adoption, the CWC may authorize any fit institution, fit person or Foster parent to take custody/charge of the child. In some cases, pre-adoption foster care is given to the prospective adop