HC seeks Centre’s reply to plea seeking passport for girl born to Afghani couple

The parents surrendered the child a day after her birth to Bhartiya Samaj Seva Kendra (BSSK), a government-recognised adoption agency in Pune. However, BSSK in its petition claimed that as the child was born in India, she should be issued a passport to enable the agency to provide her with permanent rehabilitation

The Bombay high court has directed the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to respond by March 1 to a petition seeking issuance of a passport to a one-and-a-half-year-old girl who was born to an unmarried couple from Afghanistan during their stay in Pune.

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The parents surrendered the child a day after her birth to Bhartiya Samaj Seva Kendra (BSSK), a government-recognised adoption agency in Pune. However, BSSK in its petition claimed that as the child was born in India, she should be issued a passport to enable the agency to provide her with permanent rehabilitation.

Advocates Radhika Samant and Pradeep Havnur told a division bench of justice Gautam Patel and justice Neela Gokhale on Tuesday that the agency approached HC after several communications to the authorities failed to elicit a response with regards to her citizenship.

The bench was further told that the mother aged 19 while the father was 21 years old, and they had come to India on a medical and student visa respectively. The child was born on September 8, 2021. After handing over the baby to the agency, the duo appeared before the child welfare committee on September 15 to offer the child for adoption.

Samant said the agency was expecting the girl to be declared legally fit for adoption, but the committee failed to get a response from the Central government. The agency too had written to MHA, but in vain, she said.

After hearing the submissions, the bench said, “The declaration by the child welfare committee of an infant as being free/fit for adoption follows a certain process. According to BSSK, that process might itself be hindered simply for want of a citizenship document in the baby’s name. Specifically, adoptive parents from overseas will find it impossible to take the infant out of the country unless the infant has a travel document, namely a passport in her own name with a properly issued visa for the country of destination.”

The court also said that MHA’s stand that the declaration process was not impeded for want of a passport was correct. However, for the prospects of the child to be adopted by foreign parents, it expected cooperation from all the authorities and hence, issued a notice to MHA. The court also directed that a copy of the order be forwarded to the Solicitor General of India and posted hearing of the petition to March 1.