Tag: Adoption

Adoption Under Hindu Law

 Adoption Under Hindu Law

The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance act:


The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act was enacted in India in 1956 as part of the Hindu Code Bills. The other legislations enacted during this time include the Hindu Marriage Act (1955), the Hindu Succession Act (1956), and the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act (1956). All of these acts were put forth under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru and were meant to codify and standardize the current Hindu legal tradition. The Adoptions and Maintenance Act of 1956 dealt specifically with the legal process of adopting children by a Hindu adult, and with the legal obligations of a Hindu to provide “maintenance” to various family members including their wives or parents, and in-laws.


Application of this act:


This act applies to Hindus and all those considered under the umbrella term of Hindus, which includes a Hindu by religion in any of its forms or development; a Buddhist, Jain, or Sikh; a child legitimate or illegitimate whose parents are Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs; a child legitimate or illegitimate one of whose parents are Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs and has been so brought up; an abandoned child, legitimate or illegitimate of unknown parentage brought up as a Hindu, Buddhist, etc.; and a convert to the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh religion.


Persons who are Muslims, Christians, Parsis, or Jews are excluded from this definition. The act does not also apply to adoptions that took place before the date of enactment. However, it does apply to any marriage that has taken place before or after the Act had come into force. Moreover, if the wife is not a Hindu then the husband is not bound to provide maintenance for her under this Act under modern Hindu Law.


Who can adopt?


Under this act only Hindus may adopt subject to their fulfillment of certain criteria:


 The first of these asserts that the adopter has the legal right to (under this Act that would mean they are a Hindu). They have to have the capacity to be able to provide for the adopted child. Thirdly the child must be capable of being adopted. Lastly, compliance with all other specifications must be met to make the adoption valid.


Men can adopt if they have the consent of their wives or all of their wives. The only way of getting around obtaining the permission of the wife or the wives is if she or if they are unsound if they have died if they have completely and finally renounced the world, and if they have ceased to be a Hindu. Unmarried men can adopt as well as long as they are not a minor. However, if a man were to adopt a daughter, the man must be twenty-one years of age or older.


Only unmarried Hindu women can legally adopt a child. A married woman can only give her consent to adoption by her husband. A married woman whose husband adopts a child is to be considered the mother. If the child is adopted and more than one wife is living in the household, then the senior wife is classified as the legal mother of the adopted child.


Who can be adopted?


The adopted child can be either male or female. The adopted child must fall under the Hindu category. The adoptee also needs to be unmarried. The child cannot be the age of fifteen or older unless again it is custom or the usage applies to the involved parties. Adoption can only occur if there is not a child of the same sex of the adopted child still residing in the home. 


Legal implications for an adopted child


From the date of the adoption, the child is under the legal guardianship of the new adopted parent(s) and thus should enjoy all the benefits from those family ties. This also means that this child, therefore, is cut off from all legal benefits (property, inheritance, etc.) from the family who had given him or her up for adoption

Adopt, Not Shop: Why It Is The Better Way

Most of us, at one point of time or another, have dreamt of having a pet. And amongst them, dogs have a soft place in the heart of the majority. And why not? They are the sweetest creatures you can ever come across, extremely loyal and are very unique companions. Apart from being cuddly and best at making puppy eyes (no pun intended! ), that is. So, when we think of bringing a furry friend home, we often think that they come with a hefty amount. But now times are changing. People are realising the worth of adopting. And if by any chance anyone reading this is planning to get a furry friend, I’ll try to put my point forward that why we should ‘Adopt, Not Shop’.

Adopting a dog gives a chance to a good life for two dogs. One is to your pet, who might have had faced something traumatic in life, and is in need of love and understanding. In such cases, the bonding between the owner and the pet is much stronger. As for the other one, adopting one dog opens up the slot for another one. So, one more rescued dog would have better facilities, better environment to develop and will have better access to the opportunity to be adopted by another good Samaritan. It is a kind of an endless chain of goodwill and love.

Another advantage of adopting over shopping is that they are really cheap in comparison to the market prices. And at the same time, there is a full blown possibility of you finding your one true loved breed amongst the less fortunate ones. With love and care, each pup blooms out to be a gorgeous dog, adopted or otherwise. Also, all the money that was to go in purchasing the dog can be used instead for the costs of food and grooming. Maybe give your furry friend a good spa day!

Another point to note is that the pet you purchase from a breeder or from a shop is most likely to be a puppy. Now no offense to the puppy lovers, but let’s agree on one thing, it’s hard to train the younglings. A puppy is no different. With the usual care that a pet deserves, they also require extra attention and training. Not an affordable thing to do for many people. INstead, if an older dog is adopted, they already have an understanding of how things work and can also be left alone for a longer period of time (not that everyone wants to do that).

And lastly, you would be standing against an inhuman practice. Of dog breeding. Though not in the mainstream media, but in recent times, the pathetic conditions of this industry has come forward, where the female dogs are treated as nothing more than a birth machine. Often, the living and food standards are very bad. All and all, this is an inhumane way to fulfill and keep up with the market demand. The scene is the same for the specialized dog breeders. All in all, the dogs are treated more with a materialistic approach rather than considering them beings with emotions.

Adopting requires just some research and patience. That goes into the shopping way too. And at the end of the day, they all are the same lovable companion we crave and can cuddle with!

ANALYSIS OF INTER- COUNTRY ADOPTION

INTRODUCTION

Adoption signifies a socio- legal practice of taking another child into own family. More specifically, in adoption child belonging to one family acquire ties with a new family i.e. adoptive parents, leading to the termination of relationship with biological or natural parents.

International adoption or transnational adoption or Inter-country adoption is a form of adoption in which an individual or couple becomes the lawful and perpetual parents of a child who is a domestic citizen of another nation. In general, potential adoptive parents must fulfil the essential requirements for legal adoption of their country of residence and of the country of nationality of the child. The laws of countries differ in their inclination to permit international adoptions. Some countries, such as China and South Korea, have comparatively well-settled rules and procedures for international adoptions, while some other countries explicitly prohibit it. African nations, have prolonged residency requirements for adoptive parents that in result rule out most international adoptions.

BIRTH OF INTER- COUNTRY ADOPTION

The statutory process of inter-country adoption gained momentum around the mid-1940s and came into force as a human response to the dilemma of war orphans and the abandoned kids and off- springs of servicemen in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. However, in the countries who give their children for adoption; lack of contraception, society’s attitudes to birth of illegitimate children and extreme poverty are the key elements leading to the dereliction of children to organisations. The concept of “male” child which is an unfortunate reality in our own country also leads to the abandonment of the girl child.

In the case of Lakshmi Kant Pandey v. UOI[1]

The Supreme Court in its judgement, pronounced that, “every child has a right to love and be loved. Only if a child is brought up in a family will he grow in an atmosphere of love, and secure ethical and material security. But if it is not potential of the biological parents or anyone about looking after the child, or if the child is abandoned by his/her family, then adoption of the child will be best for the security of the child.”

The rise in the number of children adopted by families from other nations has also resulted in a significant rise in public policy issues, leading to The Hague Convention and the International Adoption Treaty, with a range of nations changing their internal legislation, guidelines and policies to govern inter-country adoption practices. This has also contributed to a significant reduction in the prospects for hundreds and thousands of kids who need families to have this opportunity or to take advantage of this opportunity early enough in their lives to avoid the depredations, institutionalization, poverty and lack of educational opportunities.

THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK

On the international level, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) deals with inter-country adoption issues. This is also governed by the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in the area of Inter-Country Adoption, 1993 (HC) and has been ratified by around 90 countries.

CRC Article 21 includes the obligation to “ensure that the child concerned in inter-country adoption enjoys safeguards and standards equivalent to those existing in the case of national adoption.”

As regards violation of the inter-country adoption criteria, in several countries the Committee on Children’s Rights, which ensures that CRC is complied with, expressed concern and recommended to certain countries that the Hague Convention should be ratified by them as means of addressing the matters.

The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption, 1993 proposes two core principles, both specifically aimed at protecting the child from unethical activities related to inter-country adoption and not at encouraging the practice as such:

  • Establishing of safeguards to ensure that transnational adoption is in the best interest of the child.
  • To establish a system of cooperation between the contacting states to ensure that the safeguards are respected.[2]

ADOPTION LAWS IN INDIA

India is a signatory of both the CRC and the Hague Conventions. The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA) is the primary law which concerns the issue of adoption under the Hindu system.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and all Amending Acts guarantee the rights of an adopted child recognized in the Hague Convention. However, the 2000 Act did not describe adoption and the concept was applied to the 2006 amendment. It has been a significant development, as the Guardians and the Wards Act of 1890 directed the introduction of a non-Hindu.

Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is an autonomous body established under the Ministry of Women and Child Development and is responsible for intra-country and inter-country adoption. The CARA Guidelines state that any foreign couple wishing to adopt an Indian child must be funded by a child welfare organization, or by a social institution, approved for its residence by the government. According to the CARA Guidelines and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Amendment Act 2006, only three kinds of children are eligible for adoption:

Those children who were given up.

Those abandoned.  

Those orphaned and cared for by a professional adoption agency.

CASE LAWS

In the case of Re Rasiklal Chhaganlal Mehta[3]

 The court ruled that inter-country adoptions under Section 9(4) of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 should be legally enforceable under the laws of both states. Adoptive family must comply with the requirements of the law on adoptions in their country and must have the requisite authorisation to be adopted by the appropriate authority, thereby ensuring that the child does not suffer from immigration and obtain nationality in the country of the adoptive parent.

In the case of Mr. Craig Allen Coates v. State [4]

Through the Indian Council for Child Welfare and Welfare Home for Children, the court ruled that, in the event that the adoptive parents fail to provide clear reasons for the adoption of a child from another country, the adoption process would be prohibited and declared to be unfaithful and that CARA should provide for stricter guidance in this regard.

ISSUES ARISING DUE TO INTER-COUNTRY ADOPTION

Child trafficking: child being sold, once taken out of the native state.

Post adoption negligence in taking care of the child.

Post adoption identity problem: child is not found with the actual adoptive guardians rather with some other person(s).

CONCLUSION

Inter-country adoption or international adoption means the adoption by parents of some other nation of the Child of one nation, also referred to as cross-border adoption. Inter-country adoption is an alternative for those children who do not have or cannot have a parent in between countries, so that these children can be chosen to give under inter- country adoption.

Agencies may be complicit in abuse if they systematically refuse to function within the framework of systems, which clearly violate international rules. In order to address transnational adoption, India also needs better guidance and legislation. It is important that child safety is ensured not only within the country but when he or she is taken out of the country.

[1]1984 AIR 469, 1984 SCR (2) 795

[2] Hague Convention, Preamble and Article 1

[3] AIR 1982 Gujrat. 193

[4] 162(2009) DLT 605

Wagging tails will never disappoint

I was 19 when my father brought an angel home, who seemed like a roly poly cotton candy with his cute little eyes which were blackmailing me to hold him in my arms. At first I felt little scared because equal to the size of my palm but suddenly I got used to it and now he is much more taller than me. Life is so uncertain right, it gives you such unexpected gifts which add more colours to it and makes it colourful. I never liked dogs, I was always in my nutshell busy with many things but he made me realised the true meaning of life, he taught me that their are many other things to focus on that are present around you, we human beings just need to understand their pain, give them love, feed them and just make them believe that yes human beings are nice, they are the ones whom we(animals) can rely on till their last breath.

Since many days I was confused and had no ideas for writing an article in my mind, I was always thinking that what should be that one thing which you people would love to read, what would be that one thing that will ring a bell in your mind and help you to wake up from your deep slumber and then I met him,

Brownie, who was sitting like this with his cute and sad eyes. I just couldn’t ignore him, he was wagging his tiny tail with a desire to pick him up and give him lots of love. I couldn’t help it, just did what he asked for and then we fell in love and became best friends(just kidding). He is the only reason behind this article. I am writing all of this to make you all understand that please start adopting rather than buying and if you can’t adopt them, just provide them with a bowl of milk and water. The sun is melting outside with fiery heatwaves which is making their survival much more difficult. There are people who take an initiative to help them but are not able to because our society is too self-centred that they can’t step out of their AC rooms or can’t pause their Netflix web series to check whether these helpless animals are fine or not, whether they are in some need or anything else. Thankfully this lad has been blessed with a home and a happy future but what about the others who are roaming aimlessly in search for a better survival.

This is the time guys wake up, enough of sleeping, enough of going spending loads of money on your lavish life. Get out of the reel life and come back to your real life, understand the basics of life, help the needy, wish everyone with a smile, never hurt or beat an animal, they are just like us in fact much better than us, it’s just that God has not blessed them with the right to speak and on the other hand we have everything but are still not making use of it. Think about it and be the perfect example of humanity.