Justice John Michael Cunha of the Karnataka High Court on consideration of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015 and Adoption Regulation, 2017 stated that:
“These provisions do not prescribe any bar on the stepparent to adopt the child or children of one of the biological parent. It only requires scrupulous compliance of the procedure contemplated under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and Adoption Regulations, 2017 and requires the Court to satisfy itself that the various conditions stipulated under section 61 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and Regulation 52 and 56 of Adoption Regulations, 2017, as the case may be, are followed before issuing an adoption order.”
The Court observed that the petitioners have complied with all the legal requirements and have produced the consent of biological parent along with step-parent to obtain the permission of the Child Welfare Committee for Adoption of Child by biological parent and step-parent and also each and every norm of the Adoption process spelt out in the Adoption Regulation, 2017 have been complied by the petitioners.
The High Court also observed that “The trial court appears to have lost sight of the fact that by the process of adoption, the child is transplanted into the family of his natural father and step-mother thereby creating a permanent parent-child relationship.”
