CARA must issue No Objection Certificates for inter-country HAMA relative adoptions upon verification by the District Magistrate.

The Petitioners (adoptive parents), who are Australian citizens/OCI cardholders of Indian origin, adopted a minor girl (Petitioner No. 3) from a close relative in India on April 21, 2023.

The adoption was performed via religious rites and a registered Adoption Deed under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA).

Although the adoptive father was an Australian citizen at the time of adoption, the mother was an Indian citizen (later acquiring Australian citizenship).

The child was issued an Indian passport listing the adoptive parents.

To relocate the child to Australia, the Petitioners sought a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Central Adoption Regulatory Authority (CARA).

CARA refused, contending that as an inter-country adoption initiated after September 2021, the parents must comply with Regulation 68 of the Adoption Regulations, 2022, which requires prior permission from the receiving country (Australia) under the Hague Convention.

Conversely, Australian authorities categorized the case as an "expatriate adoption" outside their regulated inter-country process, stating they do not provide prior endorsement for such private adoptions but require a support letter from CARA for visa processing.

1. Whether an adoption concluded legally under HAMA by an OCI/Foreign citizen of Indian origin is subject to the mandatory prior-permission requirements of the Hague Convention and Adoption Regulations, 2022.

2. Whether CARA is obligated to issue an NOC/Support Letter for a HAMA adoption to facilitate a child’s relocation when the receiving country classifies the matter as an "expatriate adoption".

The court primarily applied the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA), which governs adoptions between Hindus independent of the Juvenile Justice Act.

It referred to Section 56(3) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, which exempts HAMA adoptions from its general provisions, and Section 60, which outlines the procedure for inter-country relative adoptions.

The court interpreted Regulations 68, 69, and 70 of the Adoption Regulations, 2022, distinguishing between prospective adoptions and those already concluded under HAMA.

Additionally, it relied on Articles 5, 17, and 37 of the Hague Convention (1993) regarding the recognition of domestic legal systems and the eligibility of parents.

The court followed the precedents of the Supreme Court in Prema Gopal v. CARA and the Delhi High Court in Jasleen Iqbal Sidhu v. Union of India, which established that CARA must facilitate HAMA adoptions through Support Letters/NOCs once the District Magistrate verifies the adoption’s legality.

The court observed that while Regulation 68 generally governs inter-country adoptions initiated after 2021, it primarily envisions a prospective process. In this case, the adoption was already legally concluded under HAMA.

The court noted that the rigid application of Regulation 68’s requirement for prior permission from the receiving state (Articles 5 and 17 of the Hague Convention) became impossible because Australian authorities do not recognize private "expatriate adoptions" as standard inter-country adoptions and thus refuse to issue such prior permissions.

Relying on the Supreme Court’s rationale in Prema Gopal, the court held that Section 60(2) of the JJ Act does not envision an NOC from the receiving country as a prerequisite for the Indian authority to act.

The court emphasized that the primary objective is the "best interests of the child" and the "right to family," noting the sincerity of the adoptive mother who remained in India for three years to care for the child.

It concluded that Regulation 69 (Adoption Process) was the appropriate pathway, requiring a verification inquiry by the District Magistrate rather than the prospective hurdles of Regulation 68.

The District Magistrate, Thane, was directed to conduct an inquiry into the legality of the HAMA adoption and issue a verification certificate within 30 days.

Upon receipt of this certificate, CARA was ordered to issue the requisite No Objection Certificate (NOC) within 15 days, with intimation to the Immigration Authorities of both India and Australia, to facilitate the child's relocation.

The Court held that technical procedural gaps should not defeat a valid HAMA adoption intended to provide a child with a family.