The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice in connection with a plea filed by Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking the removal of anomalies in grounds of adoption and guardianship and making them uniform for all citizens across religions. The petitioner, who is also a BJP leader, sought directions to declare the grounds of adoption and guardianship under different acts based on different religions per se discriminatory.
The petitioner had submitted that several acts such as Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, The Guardians and Wards Act 1890, Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act and personal laws of Muslims, Christians and Parsis contain different provisions for adoption and guardianship, which are against gender equality, dignity of women and children.
It has further been contented that it is also contrary to Articles 14, 15, and 21. The petitioner stated that even after 73 years of Independence, India does not have a gender- and religion-neutral law for adoption and guardianship for all citizens. Every religion has its own personal laws which are still not codified and are still being governed by primitive personal laws.
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