Consent of an abandoned father is not required for adoption under specified circumstances according to Section 9 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act.

ORDER

This writ has been filed by the petitioner seeking to call for the records relating to the impugned proceeding of the respondent in refusal check slip No.RFL/ Virugambakkam/ 7 2025 dated 31.05.2025 and quash the same and consequently direct the respondent to registrar the deed of Adoption dated

31.05.2025 excused by the 2nd respondent to in favour of 1st respondent.

2.Learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that the 2nd petitioner intended to give her 14 years old minor son for adoption to her sister and the 1st petitioner, who is the husband of the 2nd petitioner's sister and executed the adoption deed dated 12.05.2025. However, when the adoption deed was presented for registration before the respondent, the respondent refused to register the same vide the refusal check slip dated 31.05.2025 on the ground that the consent of the biological father has not been obtained for giving adoption.

3.He would further submit that in the present case, the 2nd petitioner and her son was abandoned by her husband and they have also got divorced vide order dated 27.04.2022 in O.P.No.824 of 2021 on the file of the I Additional Family Court, Chennai. Since the 2nd petitioner has no source of income, she is not in a position to maintain her child and give him a eduction and therefore, she executed the adoption deed. Further, in the present year since the father of the child abandoned him for the passed 11 years, as per Section 9 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 , the consent of the mother alone is enough to give adoption. Hence, he prayed to set aside the impugned refusal slip dated

31.05.2025 and direct the respondent to registrar the deed of Adoption dated

31.05.2025 excused by the 2nd respondent to in favour of 1st respondent.

4.Learned Government Advocate appearing for the respondent would submit that since the consent of the biological father is not produced, the respondent refused to register the adoption deed presented by the petitioners. In the present case, since the father had abandoned the child, the consent is not required and therefore, the orders whichever passed by this Court will be complied with.

5.Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners as well as the learned Government Advocate appearing for the respondent.

6.For better appreciation, Section 9 of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 , is extracted hereunder:-

“9.Persons capable of giving in adoption.―

(1) No person except the father or mother or the guardian of a child shall have the capacity to give the child in adoption.

2 [(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (4), the father or the mother, if alive, shall have equal right to give a son or daughter in adoption:

Provided that such right shall not be exercised by either of them save with the consent of the other unless one of them has completely and finally renounced the world or has ceased to be a Hindu or has been declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be of unsound mind.]

3* * * * *

4 [(4) Where both the father and mother are dead or have completely and finally renounced the world or have abandoned the child or have been declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be of unsound mind or where the parentage of the child is not known, the guardian of the child may give the child in adoption with the previous permission of the court to any person including the guardian himself.]

(5) Before granting permission to a guardian under sub-

section (4), the court shall be satisfied that the adoption will be for the welfare of the child, due consideration being for this purpose given to the wishes of the child having regard to the age and understanding of the child and that the applican