Ld. Seniors,
Kindly share your core views on The personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010 on;
1. Is there a need to amend Section 9 of Hindu Adoption and Maintenace Act, 1956 so as to provide that the mother with consent of the father and vice-versa shall have equal right to give in adoption of their children ?
For ease S. 9 HAMA is reproduced here:
S. 9. Persons capable of giving in adoption
(1) No person except the father or mother or the guardian of a child shall have the
capacity to give the child in adoption.
(2) Subject to the provisions of 3[sub-section(3) and sub-section(4)], the father, if
alive, shall alone have the right to give in adoption, but such right shall not be
exercised save with the consent of the mother unless the mother has completely and
finally renounced the world or has ceased to be a Hindu or has been declared by a
court of competent jurisdiction to be of unsound mind.
(3) The mother may give the child in adoption if the father is dead or has completely
and finally renounced the world or has ceased to be a Hindu or has been declared by
a court of competent jurisdiction to be of unsound mind.
3[(4) Where both the father and mother are dead or have completely and finally
renounced the world or have abandoned the child or have been declared by a court
of competent jurisdiction to be of unsound mind or where the parentage of the child
is not known, the guardian of the child may give the child in adoption with the
previous permission of the court to any person including the guardian himself.]
(5) Before granting permission to a guardian under sub-section (4), the court shall
be satisfied that the adoption will be for the welfare of the child, due consideration
being for this purpose given to the wishes of the child having regard to the age and
understanding of the child and that the applicant for permission has not received or
agreed to receive and that no person has made or given or agreed to make or give
to the applicant any payment or reward in consideration of the adoption except such
as the court may sanction.
Explanation: For the purposes of this section-
(i) the expression "father" and "mother" do not include an adoptive father and an
adoptive mother; 1[***]
2[(ia) "guardian" means a person having the care of the person of a child or of both
his person and property and includes-
(a) a guardian appointed by the will of the child's father or mother; and
(b) a guardian appointed or declared by a court; and]
(ii) "court" means the city civil court or a district court within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the child to be adopted ordinarily resides.
Kindly share your detailed critical views on personal laws amendment affecting S. 9 HAMA
Regards
