Haven’t stayed foreign adoption; cases to continue before courts, HC clarifies

Foreign adoption procedures will continue before concerned courts in India until the Bombay high court decides on a constitutional challenge to a government decision to transfer adoption cases to district magistrates. The clarification came after prospective parents were told that adoption procedures had been stopped due to the case in court. The high court has stayed the implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2021, pending its decision on the matter.

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday issued a clarification that foreign adoption procedures would continue before concerned courts till it decided on the issue of constitutional challenge to a central government decision to hand over adoption cases to district magistrates.

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The clarification was prompted in the face of prospective parents being told that adoption procedures had been stopped due to the case in HC. The HC directed all concerned courts to continue deciding on the adoption cases till it passed orders in the petition on July 7.

The division bench of justice Gautam Patel and justice Neela Gokhale which had stayed the implementation of the mandate of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2021 of transferring adoption cases to district magistrates following a petition by Kandivali couple Nisha and Pradeep Pandya was informed by an intervener that there were reports which stated that foreign adoption procedures had been stopped due to the case in HC.

The bench in its order said, “There is some misconception floating around that we have stopped foreign adoption. We will clarify this.” The bench stated that there was no question of any ongoing or fresh adoption matters to be transferred to district magistrate until it decide the petition. “District judges must continue to decide until July 7. Any papers which are transferred to the District Magistrates be sent back to district judges/courts,” said the bench in its order.

The HC stayed the implementation of the amendment in the Act on January 10 after hearing the petition of the Pandyas. The bench was told that the courts were the parents of orphan children that are put up for adoption and only the judges can ascertain whether a family was fit to adopt a child. The petition had claimed that the magistrate was a judicial officer and would not be the appropriate person to decide on the future of the child.

The petitioners also relied on a law commission report which stated that judicial officers were already burdened with a lot of work and pendency before magistrates was also high. The HC had then stayed the implementation of the amendment till it decided the Pandya petition.