For more details: Navamalayalam.com
SC pulls up CARA for ‘obstructionist’ approach
NEW DELHI: After a 12-year-old girl lost her mother, her US-based maternal aunt and her husband adopted her by performing ‘Datta Homam’ rituals under Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA). That was two years ago. They have since struggled to take their adopted daughter to the US because of conflict between inter-country adoption frameworks of the US and India, leading Supreme Court to frown on India’s Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) coming in the way of a better future for children who have been adopted by their close relatives based overseas.
The adoptive parents had completed the legal requirements for inter-country adoption of the child through a US govt agency but were told that a clearance in this regard would be needed from India’s CARA under Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
While the US authorities informed the adoptive parents that the approval for adoption was valid till July 28, 2026, they came to know that children adopted under HAMA would not be recognised by the US as the Indian adoption procedure is not considered legally safe under the ‘Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoptions’.
On the other hand, in cases involving inter-country relocation of a child, CARA’s office memorandum does not allow adoption procedure under JJ Act and Adoption Regulations, 2022, if a child is adopted under HAMA.