LAXMI KANT PANDEY Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This application has been filed by the Missionaries of Charity, a society established by the late Mother Teresa. One of the areas where the Society renders yeomans service is the upbringing of orphans and children born out of wedlock and to rehabilitate such children and to take steps for their adoption with families both in India and abroad.

(2.) The adoption of children in India is governed by the provisions of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act but the procedure for the adoption of Indian children by foreign families has been provided by this Court in Laxmi Kant Pandey v. Union of India, 1984 2 SCC 244). Under this procedure applications are to be filed by the intending adoptive parents in Indian Courts, which on an evaluation of the evidence on record, make suitable orders.

(3.) By the present application the Missionaries of Charity have referred to the difficulties being faced by adoptive parents coming from abroad and it has been highlighted that many Indian Courts were not accepting documents executed and authenticated abroad, with the result that the adoption of children by foreign parents was being delayed. It has also been pointed out that the procedure needed to be simplified more particularly in the light of the fact that India had accepted the policy of 15th October, 1961 called the 'Hague Apostille Convention' which had been enforced with effect from 1965. It has also been pointed out that as India is a signatory to the convention, the procedure prescribed therein should also be adopted in the execution of the adoption documents by foreign parents.