Bombay High Court comes to the rescue of an Australian citizen couple three years after they adopted a baby in India

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has come to the rescue of a couple who faced legal hurdles in bringing their adopted daughter to Australia even though the adoption was valid under Indian law. The 44-year-old couple adopted a relative’s third child in April 2023 under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA). The child was 45 days old at the time, the wife was an Indian citizen and the husband had obtained Australian citizenship two months earlier. The wife later became an Australian citizen.However, Australian authorities did not recognize the adoption as an “intercountry adoption” and said children adopted outside the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption procedures were not automatically accepted. This meant that mother and son were trapped in India for three years. On March 30, a bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Abhay Mantri of the Bombay High Court, while disposing of a judicial intervention petition filed by the couple last year, directed the couple to approach a magistrate for certification of the adoption. The court cited the Adoption Rules 2022 and directed that once the district magistrate issues a verification certificate within 30 days, the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) must issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) within 15 days. The HC said CARA’s recognition is crucial for inter-country adoptions, after which immigration authorities in India and Australia will be notified. Australian authorities informed the couple that children adopted overseas outside the Hague Convention process would not automatically be recognized in Australia and pointed to Australia’s specific immigration requirements for special visa and citizenship pathways for adopted children. “Obviously, the (Australian) authorities need an appropriate agency in India to review and show permission. That agency is CARA,” the HC said. In August 2025, the mother wrote to CARA what the Australian Home Affairs Department had emailed her. CARA, on its part, said that since the adoptive father is an Australian citizen with Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status, Regulation 68 of the Adoption Regulations 2022 (the rules governing inter-country HAMA adoptions) applies. CARA, in its reply to the HC, said it cannot regulate any aspect of the couple’s adoption unless they comply with the requirements of the 2022 regulations for resettlement of children adopted by HAMA to foreign countries. Anil Anturkar, senior counsel appearing for the adoptive parents, said this was not an inter-country adoption case and challenged the objections raised by CARA. He said Section 69 of the Adoption Ordinance, which relates to completed HAMA adoptions, would apply to the couple. Australian authorities said it was a “foreign adoption”. “There is no definition of foreign adoption in either the Juvenile Justice Act or the Adoption Regulations 2022,” the HC said, but noted that adoption is legal under HAMA. The HC, after hearing the submissions of Centre’s counsel YR Mishra, held that in exceptional circumstances, the proceedings under Section 69 would be initiated. “Section 69 provides for the adoption procedure and takes into account the cases of parties to adoptions that have been concluded under HAMA. The statute must be read as applying to the present case. ” the HC said, citing the SC’s previous ruling. “Ideally, the applicant should comply with Section 68 (inter-country adoption proceedings),” the court said. But the process cannot be reversed now, the HC said, adding that it must consider “the future of the adopted baby”. The High Court ruling, published late on Thursday, also noted that the mother had twice previously submitted petitions “based on incorrect advice” to no avail. The HC said: “If the child is not allowed to be brought to Australia for technical reasons, the adoption will fail.“Judge Gouge, who wrote the judgment, observed the dedication of the adoptive parents. The Supreme People’s Court said the case “passed complex laws to bless adopted children with the love and care of their adoptive parents,” noting that “the adoptive parents’ feelings are sincere and pure.”