JASWINDER SINGH Vs. SALA GIANPAOLO AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This application is directed against the order dated 17/01/2014, passed by the Principal Judge, Family Court, Ranchi in Guardianship/Adoption Case No. 64 of 2013, holding therein that keeping in view the welfare of the child Shalini, she cannot be ordered to be given in Inter Country Adoption in favour of respondent nos. 1 and 2 and, thereby, the said case was dismissed for the reasons recorded herein under:-

(2.) Challenging the said order, Mr. Jagdeep Kishore, learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that the matter relating to inter-country adoption never seems to have been decided as per the guidelines issued by the Central Government named as 'Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children, 2011' and, thereby, the Court committed illegality in dismissing the application for adoption.

(3.) Before adverting to the further submissions advanced in this regard, one needs to take the background under which the aforesaid guidelines regarding adoption were issued by the Central Government. The law with regard to inter-country adoption was in state of flux until the principals governing giving of Indian children in adoption to foreign parents and the procedure that should be followed in this regard to ensure absence of any abuse, maltreatment or trafficking of children came to be laid down by the Honourable Supreme Court in a case of "Lakshmi Kant Pandey Vs. Union of India [(1984) 2 SCC 244]" . That case has been instituted on a letter addressed to the Court by one Lakshmi Kant Pandey, practicing advocate of the Supreme Court with regard to alleged malpractices indulged in by social and voluntary organizations engaged in the work of offering Indian children in adoption to foreign parents. After an elaborate consideration of the various dimensions of the questions, which were raised before the Court by several entities including Government functionaries offered elaborate suggestions to ensure that the process of such adoption is governed by strict norms and a well laid down procedure to eliminate the possibility of abuse or misuse in offering Indian children for adoption by foreign parents. The Court also laid down the approach that is required to be adopted by the Courts while dealing with the applications under the Guardians and Wards Act seeking orders for appointment of foreign prospective parents as guardian of Indian Children. The Honourable Court on amongst the other suggestions came with the following suggestions:-