 from the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) or to follow a procedure under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 is not required if the Hindu adoptive parents has adopted a child directly from biological parents of the child.){kind=link}
New Delhi: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) or to follow a procedure under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 is not required if the Hindu adoptive parents has adopted a child directly from biological parents of the child.
According to reports reaching here, this verdict has been given by Justice Nirmaljit Kaur in a case where the Passport Authority had refused passport to a minor girl, adopted in accordance with the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA), on the ground that a NOC from the CARA or photocopy from a recognised Indian placement agency was required.
Sukhvinder Singh Nara, counsel of the petitioner, contending on behalf of the petitioner submitted that the NOC from the CARA was not required as Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act clearly stated that its provisions would not be applicable to an adoption made under the provisions of the HAMA.
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Justice Kaur, after hearing the arguments, held that, “Indian parents were not required to provide the NOC from the CARA. The requirement was for foreign parents. Although, the Court is of the view that an Indian or Overseas Citizen of India with a British passport, i.e. with British Citizenship, will not lose their identity of being an Indian parent or Indian, especially when they are called ‘Overseas Citizen of India’, nevertheless, the debate is left open as no argument was raised on this by either side”.
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Apart from this Justice Nirmaljit Kaur advised the petitioner to obtain a simple NOC from the CARA that it would be in the interest of the adoptive parents and the child. This also ensure a clean transition from one country to another and protect them from facing any difficulty in visa or any other requirement.
-India Legal Bureau