HC allows child to join foster parents in Germany

The Delhi High Court has paved the way for a minor boy to join his foster parents in Germany by directing the central adoption body to issue a no- objection certificate to the couple.
Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva disposed of a petition filed by the minor through his next friend, his biological father.
"The present petition is disposed of with a direction to the respondent the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) -- to grant, within a period of two weeks, a no- objection certificate (NOC) to the adoptive parents of the petitioner for taking the petitioner to Germany.
"The Ministry of Affairs/Regional Passport Officer is also directed to issue a passport to the petitioner within a period of two weeks thereafter," the court said.

The order came on a plea seeking direction to the visa issuing authorities that a certificate from CARA is not mandatory in view of a May 28, 2015 order of a court in a guardianship petition under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA).
The plea had also prayed for a direction to the Ministry of External Affairs to issue a passport to him.

"In view of the judgment dated May 28, 2015 of the competent court in a guardianship petition, the petitioner is now lawfully adopted, the said judgment has attained finality and even if the petitioner was to wish, the petitioner cannot re-unite with his biological parents.

"The petitioner's birth certificate and his Aadhaar card have already been modified and the names of his adoptive parents have already been substituted therein in place of his biological parents. Further, it is not a case of adoption between strangers. The present is a case of adoption between family members," the court noted.
It observed that the foster parents were the "real" elder brother of the biological father and the elder brother's wife.
"The adoption, being in accordance with the HAMA Act, is complete," it said.
The court said that all relations between the petitioner and his natural family are severed.

"If the petitioner is not permitted to unite with his adoptive family, the petitioner would be in a very precarious position, where his relations with the biological parents have severed and the relations with his adoptive family are not permitted to be joined. It would cause grave injustice to a child," the judge added.
In the instant case, the petitioner was born in 2004. He was adopted by his father's elder brother and his wife in 2015 as they did not have any child despite undergoing medical procedures.
A registered Adoption Deed was executed and ratified by the Court of District and Sessions Judge (West), Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi, in a guardianship petition in May, 2015.

The foster parents of the petitioner are German citizens with Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status and live in Hannover, Germany.
"It, being an inter-country adoption, the parents of the petitioner approached CARA, as directed by the German Consulate at Delhi. CARA asked them to obtain a No Objection Certificate prior to applying for a visa and that for such a certificate, they had to make an application for adoption with CARA," the court noted.