Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has directed the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) to consider a Kenya-based Indian couple’s representation to grant NOC for an adoption.
The couple, currently living in Nairobi and working for different companies, still hold an Indian passport and have not renounced their Indian citizenship. They lived in Uganda between 2011 and 2018 and moved to Kenya in 2019.
On August 12, 2014, they adopted a child and filed an application before the jurisdictional Family and Children Court at Makindye, in Ugandan capital Kampala, seeking conferment of a care order under the country’s applicable laws.
On July 20, 2015, the High Court of Uganda granted them the child’s guardianship, declaring them to be the adopted parents and granted them all consequential rights.
The couple submitted an email application to CARA on June 8, 2023, seeking legal sanction for the adoption since both remain Indian citizens. They moved the high court since they did not receive a response from the agency.
The petitioners said inter-country adoption is a recognised norm under the 1995 Hague Convention. On the other hand, the Deputy Solicitor General of India submitted that the parents would be issued a support letter, which would be adequate in the circumstances to enter and exit India.
Justice M Nagaprasanna observed that if rights of the parties have been conclusively determined, those orders would become implementable through the courts of the nation.
"If the petitioners' rights are determined and they are, as of today, citizens of this country, the orders would undoubtedly ensure the benefit of the petitioners. The petition thus succeeds. Therefore, the petitioners are entitled to the relief that they have sought for in the petition,” the court said.
(Published 29 March 2024, 22:19 IST)
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