Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court issued a notice to Australian consulate general in India over a legal bottleneck faced by Australian adoptive parents in getting immigration clearance for their adopted children.Justice Nirzar Desai sought a response from the Australian authority by raising concerns over the fate of adopted children on the foreign shore, to ensure their well-being once shifted out of India.Cases before HC were filed by the adoptive parents, particularly children’s biological uncles or aunts having Australian citizenship or permanent residence, after they were denied adoption visas for their wards.Advocate Punit Juneja, who represents an adoptive mother, submitted before HC that Department of Home Affairs in Australia insists on a no objection certificate (NOC) from the Indian Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) in a case of immigration of an adopted child. These children were adopted under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA) because the biological parents and adoptive parents were known to each other, and mostly relatives. The adoption process gets over by way of registration of adoption deed and verification by local authorities.However, the Australian govt’s insistence on CARA’s NOC for immigration of an adopted child created a hurdle for the parents. This is because CARA tells the parents that it would issue the NOC only after initiation of the process from its Australian counterparts, which became difficult for the adoptive parents. Hence, they moved HC seeking directions to CARA to issue an NOC so that the children may be taken to Australia.The lawyers submitted that CARA had no role to play in adoption made under HAMA. However, formulation of adoption regulations in 2017 under the Juvenile Justice Act and the subsequent expansion of its scope in 2021 brought adoptions under HAMA under CARA’s ambit. Even the passport authorities seek a CARA NOC before issuing a passport to a child adopted under HAMA after 2021.Among the group of petitioners, one adoptive parent sought HC directions to the passport authority to get a passport for his adopted child for an Australia trip. In this case, the child was adopted by a neighbouring couple under HAMA. Now, the parents have planned a trip to Australia and the child’s passport process is stuck in the absence of an NOC from CARA.HC has posted the hearing in these cases on Aug 6.
