Child adoption case: HC quashes FIR against woman

The Dharwad bench of the High Court has quashed an FIR registered against a woman under Sections 80 and 81 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 in connection with the adoption of a child.

Justice Hemant Chandangoudar said that the committee, set up under the Act, has not declared that the child in question was deserted by biological or adoptive parents or guardians so as to hold that the child, which is in the custody of the petitioner, is an adopted child.

The allegation against the petition was that she had adopted a girl child without following the valid adoption procedure.

On credible information, the Child Development Programme Officer (CDPO) of Siddapur at Siruguppa taluk in Uttara Kannada district had visited the house and sought appropriate action against the petitioner.

Section 80 of the Act specifies that any person who offers or receives, any orphan, abandoned or surrendered child, for the purpose of adoption without following the provisions or procedures as provided in the Act, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend up to three years or with fine or both.

Section 81 specifies that any person who sells or buys the child for any purpose shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for the term which may extend up to five years and also shall be liable to a fine of Rs 1 lakh.

The government argued that the petitioner had not produced any valid documents for the adoption of the girl child.

The court noted that to constitute an offence punishable under section 80 of the Act, there should be material that a person has offered or received any orphan, abandoned or surrendered child for the purpose of adoption. Section 2 of the Act specifies that an abandoned child is a child deserted by the biological or adoptive parents or guardians who have been declared as abandoned by the committee after due enquiry.

“In the present case, there is no declaration by the committee that the child in question is deserted by the biological or adoptive parents or guardians so as to hold that the child, which is in the custody of the petitioner, is the adopted child. Hence, in the absence of any declaration by the committee, the registration of the FIR against the petitioner for the offence punishable under Section 80 of the Act is without substance,” the court said and also pointed out that there is no material that the petitioner has bought the child from any person, so as to constitute the offence punishable under section 81 of the Act.