SC disposes of PIL seeking children adoption guidelines
The decision came after the Centre told the court that a new law, the 2015 Juvenile Justice Act has adequate rules in place for adoption of children
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday disposed of a public interest litigation filed in 2012 seeking its intervention to frame guidelines for adoption of inter-country and intra-country adoption of children.
The decision came after the Centre told the court that a new law, the 2015 Juvenile Justice Act has adequate rules in place for adoption of children.
Additional solicitor general Pinky Anand and Tushar Mehta, who were among lawyers appearing for the government, said the rules that go along with the Juvenile Justice Act will be framed soon.
The petitioners had also alleged in a previous hearing that in the absence of regulations for inter-country adoption, children are illegally taken to foreign countries and face abuse.
A bench comprising chief justice T.S. Thakur and justice U.U. Lalit told the Bengaluru-based NGO Advait to submit its recommendations to the government.
The petitioner had also alleged that adoption in India was a huge racket and had sought an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against various adoption agencies. The court, however, declined to order a CBI probe on a broad scale. “If you have individual instances where you think there have been irregularities, tell us and we will order a probe," the court said.
The government has been asked to frame the rules under the Juvenile Justice Act in consultation with the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA). CARA is the apex body which governs adoptions and functions under the Ministry for Women and Child Development.
“Adoption guidelines are already there in the 2015 JJ Act, but now because the Act talks about regulations, these guidelines have to be re-notified as regulations. This is already under process and will happen soon," said Veerendra Mishra, secretary, CARA.
Meenal Thakur contributed to this story.
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