Adoption under Juvenile Justice Act 2015 not restricted to orphaned children or those in need of care and protection: Bombay High Court

The Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court has held that adoption of children as per the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 (JJ Act) cannot be restricted only to orphaned, abandoned or surrendered children or those in conflict with law or in need of care and protection (Sumed vs. NIL)..The JJ Act, 2015 provides for and regulates adoption of children from relatives and adoption by step-parent, Justice Manisha Pitale held. “It becomes clear that the JJ Act, 2015, not only intends to take care of children, who are in conflict with law as defined under section 2(13) of the JJ Act, 2015 and children in need of care and protection defined under section 2(14) thereof, but also to provide for and regulate adoption of children from relatives and adoption by step-parent," the order said..The Court, therefore, set aside an order passed by District Judge, Yavatmal who had rejected a plea by the biological and prospective adoptive parents of a minor girl child for adoption of the child under the provisions of the JJ Act. .The District Judge had rejected the application under the JJ Act on the ground that the child in this case was neither a child in conflict with law, nor a child in need of care and protection, nor an orphan, nor a surrendered/ abandoned child and therefore, provisions of the JJ Act, 2015 would not apply..A revision application was file against the District Judge order before the High Court contending that the child can be adopted under the provisions of the JJ Act..The counsel for the applicants submitted that the lower court erroneously took an extremely strict view of the applicability of the Act.It was further argued that the legislature consciously made provisions for the adoption of a child by relatives under the Act..The Court appointed advocate FT Mirza as Amicus Curiae to assist the court..The Amicus submitted that the JJ Act, 2015 broadened the scope of the legislation and included a specific procedure for adoption of children in its fold. “It was submitted that the view adopted by the Court below was extremely narrow and it did not take into consideration the changes brought about in the JJ Act, 2015,” the order noted. .On perusal of the JJ Act, 2015, the Court observed that an entire chapter, Chapter VIII was introduced in the Act for the purposes of adoption. Aside from children in conflict with law as defined under section 2(13) and children in need of care and protection defined under section 2(14), the JJ Act also provides for and regulates adoption of children from relatives and adoption by step-parent.The Court highlighted Section 56(2) of the Act which states that adoption of a child from another relative can be made as per the provisions of the Act and Adoption Regulations. "Section 56(2) of the JJ Act, 2015 specifically states that adoption of a child from a relative by another relative irrespective of religion can be made as per the provisions of the said Act and Adoption Regulations framed by the Authority. This provision is in addition to section 56(1), which states that adoption shall be resorted to for ensuring right to family for an orphaned, abandoned and surrendered child as per the Adoption Regulations framed by the Authority," the Court noted. Thus, an elaborate procedure is laid down for such an adoption in the enactment, the Court opined. .It, therefore, concluded that a clearly restrictive interpretation regarding the applicability of the JJ Act, 2015 was adopted by the district court. .The Bench further drew attention to the judgement in Shabnam Hashmi v. Union of India in which the Supreme Court had acknowledged the availability of choice to a person to adopt under personal law or a secular legislation to meet the end of establishing a Uniform Civil Code under Article 44 of the Constitution.“This availability of choice was completely ignored by the Court below while giving an extremely restrictive and erroneous interpretation to the provisions of the JJ Act, 2015, in the context of the application moved by the revision applicants for adoption of the girl child,” the Court stated. It, therefore, allowed the plea and sent the matter back to the court below for fresh determination. .Advocate Ira P Khisti represented the applicants. .[Read Order]