HC strikes down lower court order rejecting single working woman’s adoption plea
Bombay high court strikes down lower court order rejecting a single woman's plea to adopt a relative's daughter on the ground that she was single and working.
MUMBAI: Calling it a reflection of medieval mindset, the Bombay high court on Wednesday struck down a lower court order, which had rejected the plea of a woman to adopt a daughter of her relative only on the ground that she was single and working, and therefore, will not be able to take proper care of the child.
The woman, a divorcee who resides in Itarsi, Madhya Pradesh, had in August 2020 moved the competent court under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act – the District Judge-1 at Bhuswal in Jalgaon district, where the parents of the three-and-a-half-year-old girl resided. The woman had sought permission to adopt the daughter of her relatives after completing necessary formalities, like registering as a prospective adoptive parent.
Pursuant to her plea, the district child protection unit submitted a detailed report verifying the woman’s credentials and the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) also issued a pre-approval for the intra-country adoption.
However, the competent court on March 8, 2022, rejected the plea primarily on the ground that the woman was single and working, and therefore, she will not be able to give personal attention to the child. Per contra, the competent court said, the girl’s biological mother, being a housewife, was better placed to take care of the child.
The woman and the biological parents of the girl had then moved high court, where a single judge bench of justice Gauri Godse found the comparison completely unfounded. Justice Godse allowed the woman’s plea and declared her the adoptive parent of the girl child, observing that the order passed by the competent court reflected a “medieval mindset.”
“The comparison done by the Competent Court between the biological mother being a housewife and the prospective adoptive mother (single parent) being a working lady reflects a mindset of medieval conservative concepts of a family,” the bench said.
“When the statute recognises a single parent to be eligible for being an adoptive parent, the approach of the Competent Court defeats the very object of the statute. Generally, a single parent is bound to be a working person, maybe with some rare exceptions. Thus, by no stretch of the imagination, a single parent can be held to be ineligible to be an adoptive parent on the ground that he/she is a working person,” high court added.
“Thus, the reason given by the Competent Court is not only contrary to the provisions of the JJ (Juvenile Justice) Act but is also contrary to the recommendations made by the District Child Welfare Officer and the Assistant Director of CARA. Even otherwise, the reason given by the Competent Court is unfounded and baseless,” high court said.
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