The Supreme Court today granted interim relief to a 13-year-old girl caught in a legal and administrative deadlock arising from an inter-country adoption involving India and the United States.
The petition was filed by a minor child and her adoptive parents against the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) and other authorities. According to the plea, the child lost her mother to brain cancer and was subsequently adopted by her maternal aunt and uncle, who are OCI cardholders residing in the United States, through a valid adoption under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA).
Appearing for the petitioners, Advocate Noor Shergill submitted that after the adoption was completed, the United States stopped recognising HAMA adoptions for the purpose of issuing Hague Adoption Certificates required for the child’s immigration. At the same time, CARA clarified that once an adoption has already been completed under HAMA, the child cannot be reprocessed under the Juvenile Justice Act and the Adoption Regulations, 2022. As a result, the petitioners contended that the child was caught in a regulatory deadlock, unable to obtain recognition of the HAMA adoption in the United States, yet also unable to access the alternative adoption framework under Indian law
Hearing the matter, a Bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed that, pending further consideration, the respondents must take all requisite steps necessary for processing the petitioners’ application without prejudice to their contentions in the case. The Court also warned that if counter affidavits are not filed before the next date of hearing, it may proceed without them.
During the hearing, the Bench appeared particularly concerned that a child who had already been validly adopted by close family members was unable to relocate because of procedural and regulatory hurdles. Justice BV Nagarathna repeatedly questioned why authorities were refusing to process the application when the adoption itself was not being disputed and stressed that a HAMA adoption is recognised under Indian law and cannot simply be ignored.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on July 14, 2026.