Safeguards in adoption process shouldn’t lead to harassment, says Delhi High Court

“Safeguards are required but safeguards should not lead to harassment,” observed the bench, which has asked the Ministry of Women and Child Development and CARA to “streamline” the system.

The bench took note of suggestions given by Amicus Curiae, senior advocate Amit Sibal, who had been asked to look into the adoption process and give suggestions.

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The government had stalled the adoption process for the adoptive NRI parents on the grounds that they required a no-objection certificate (NOC) from CARA.

The pleas by the parents, filed through advocate Karan S Thukral, had claimed that they had adopted children from their relatives or known persons, but CARA had refused to issue NOCs.

The bench has now asked CARA to facilitate the process for the petitioner in the main plea, who had initiated adoption proceedings in 2007. The bench also noted that the child adopted by the Canadian resident was now 16 years old, and had been denied permission to go to the country of adoption so far. The bench has said that it would issue directions to the government on the larger issue of guidelines for adoption.

The court also suggested that CARA and the Ministry of Women and Child Development could consider asking the anti-human trafficking unit (AHTU) of the Union home ministry for help to verify potential adoptive parents. “You should primarily write to them. They have bilateral agreements with countries. They can verify…” suggested the court.

The bench also said that the AHTU could “create a negative list” of persons and agencies, which were under suspicion, to ensure that the process of adoption was not being misused for human trafficking.