5. In-Country and Inter-Country Adoption | The Juvenile Justice Act Framework

This post follows the earlier adoption posts in Unit IV. Those posts explained adoption under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956; this post covers the second legal route, the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, and the difference between adopting within India and from abroad.

The Problem This Topic Solves

Many children in India are orphaned, abandoned or surrendered by their parents. They need families, and many couples wish to adopt. The 1956 Act applies only to Hindus and does not set up a system for finding families for such children. The Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 fills this gap with a secular procedure, and it also deals with the more sensitive case of adoption by parents living outside India.

Two Legal Routes to Adoption

In-Country Adoption

Purpose. Under Section 56 of the Juvenile Justice Act, adoption is meant to give the right to a family to orphan, abandoned and surrendered children.

Eligibility (Section 57).

• Prospective adoptive parents must be physically fit, financially sound, mentally alert and highly motivated to give the child a good upbringing.
• For a couple, both spouses must consent.
• A single or divorced person may also adopt, subject to the adoption regulations.
• A single male is not eligible to adopt a girl child.
• A child is not given to a couple unless they have at least two years of stable marital relationship.

Steps (as set out in the Adoption Regulations, 2022).

1. A Child Welfare Committee declares the child legally free for adoption.
2. The prospective parents register on the designated portal.
3. A Specialised Adoption Agency prepares a home study report on the parents, and a child study report on the child.
4. The child is matched with the parents, and the parents take the child into pre-adoption foster care.
5. An adoption order is issued. Since the Juvenile Justice Amendment Act, 2021 came into force on 1 September 2022, the District Magistrate (and Additional District Magistrate) issues the order under Section 61, instead of a court.
6. The agency follows up on the child's progress after the adoption.

Inter-Country Adoption

Inter-country adoption (adoption of a child from one country by parents living in another) is allowed only as a later option.

• Priority to Indian parents (Section 59). A child can be given for inter-country adoption only if the Specialised Adoption Agency and the State Agency could not place the child with an Indian or non-resident Indian family within sixty days from the date the child was declared legally free for adoption.
• Priority within inter-country adoption. Eligible non-resident Indians, Overseas Citizens of India and persons of Indian origin get priority.
• Safeguards. In Lakshmi Kant Pandey v. Union of India (1984), the Supreme Court laid down the safeguards that guide inter-country adoption, to protect children from trafficking and exploitation and to keep the child's welfare first.
• Hague Convention. India ratified the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption in 2003 (in force for India from 1 October 2003).

Who Regulates: CARA

The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is the nodal body for adoption of Indian children. It became a statutory body under Section 68 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. It monitors and regulates both in-country and inter-country adoption, and it is the Central Authority for the Hague Convention in India.

In-Country and Inter-Country Compared

• Two routes: the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (Hindus) and the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 (all religions; orphan, abandoned and surrendered children).
• Section 57: eligibility; both spouses must consent; a couple needs two years of stable marriage; a single male cannot adopt a girl.
• Section 59: inter-country adoption only after 60 days without an Indian or NRI placement; priority to NRIs, OCIs and PIOs.
• CARA (statutory under Section 68) regulates adoption and is the Hague Convention Central Authority; India ratified the Hague Convention in 2003.
• Since 1 September 2022, the District Magistrate issues adoption orders (Section 61).

• A Child Welfare Committee, not the adoptive parents or agency, declares a child legally free for adoption.
• The Specialised Adoption Agency follows up on the child after adoption.
• Exam trap: do not say inter-country adoption is the first choice; Indian placement comes first.

A Practical Example

A two-year-old girl surrendered by her mother is declared legally free for adoption. A couple in Hyderabad who have been married for four years register as prospective parents and are matched with her. After pre-adoption foster care, the District Magistrate issues an adoption order. If no Indian or non-resident Indian family had come forward within sixty days of the declaration, the girl could have been placed with a foreign family, with NRIs and OCIs given priority.

Quick Revision Points

• Routes: HAMA 1956 vs JJ Act 2015 (Sections 56-73).
• Eligibility (Section 57): physical, financial and mental fitness; spouses' consent; two-year marriage; single male cannot adopt a girl.
• Steps: legally free declaration (CWC), registration, home study report, child study report, matching, pre-adoption foster care, adoption order (District Magistrate, Section 61), follow-up.
• Inter-country (Section 59): 60 days; priority to NRIs, OCIs and PIOs; Lakshmi Kant Pandey (1984); Hague Convention ratified 2003.
• CARA: statutory under Section 68; Central Authority for the Hague Convention.