Indian law does not permit foreign citizens' adoption: HC

An Indian citizen does not have the right to adopt a child of foreign nationality, even from among relatives, when the child is neither “in need of care and protection” nor in “conflict with law”, the Bombay high court has ruled, saying there is no provision for the same in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act or adoption regulations.

- Prateem Rohanekar

A division bench of justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale made the observation on Wednesday while dismissing a petition filed by a Pune-based Indian couple to adopt their relative’s son, who is a US citizen by birth. “There is no provision in the JJ Act nor the adoption regulations providing for adoption of a child of foreign citizenship even between relatives, unless it’s a ‘child in need of care and protection’ or a ‘child in conflict with law’,” the court said.

The petitioner couple, married in 2011, wanted to adopt the six-year-old son of the woman's sister, who lives in the US. They