Beneficial, benevolent and progressive as the amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act may seem to be, they are myopic and do not seem to be in tandem with parallel family law legislations
Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have approved the 2021 amendments to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act), which allows district magistrates to issue adoption orders instead of civil courts. Amending provisions of the JJ Act to recognise executive magistrates as a competent authority authorised to issue adoption orders will allow speedier adoption of children.
Beneficial, benevolent and progressive as the proposals may be, they are myopic and do not seem to be in tandem with parallel family law legislations. The cited reasonings — delay in civil courts and adoption processes being non-contested litigations — ignore the “interest and welfare of child” principle. The purpose defeats the ends. Further, it may create statutory conflicts with contradictory and inconsistent interpretations in issues relating to marriage, adoption and guardianship. The wholesome solution then may be to not amend the act or incorporate similar amendments in other existing laws.
Adoption of children under the JJ Act, which is outside the scope of the provisions of the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA), is guided by Sections 56 and 57 of the JJ Act, wherein irrespective of religion, orphan, abandoned and surrendered children can be made wards of single or divorced persons as per procedure laid down under the Adoption Regulations, 2017. The process entails a robust and protective mechanism routed through the Central Adoption Resource Authority (Cara). Ultimately, under the JJ Act, all Cara approved adoptions require an adoption order from a court, which under the JJ Act “means a civil court, which has jurisdiction in matters of adoption and guardianship, and may include the district court, family court and city civil courts.” Section 61 of the JJ Act mandates that before issuing an adoption order approved by Cara, the court shall satisfy that the adoption is for the welfare of the child, as per the wishes of the child and without consideration, payment or reward for the adoption.
Interpretation of “court”