Plea in Delhi HC challenges adoption rules limiting 2-child parents from adopting 3rd 'normal' kid

A petition in the Delhi High Court challenges the modifications made to the Adoption Regulations under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

Justice Pratibha M. Singh was hearing a plea by Jesi Jeevarathinam, who has two biological children and had applied to adopt a child in December 2020.

The changes in the Regulations prevent parents who already have "two children" from adopting a child without any disabilities, as defined by the Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act.

It is Jeevarathinam's case that she had applied for the adoption of a third child under the Adoption Regulations, 2017, which was in effect at that time and only prohibited parents with "three or more children" from adopting a child without any disabilities.

The petitioner has argued that the decision by the Steering Committee Resource Authority to implement the Adoption Regulations, 2022 with retrospective effect is arbitrary, unreasonable, and violates Article 14 of the Constitution.

Justice Singh, after reviewing the case, directed the authorities to maintain the petitioner's name on the waiting list and said that if the petitioner becomes eligible for adoption under either the 2017 or 2022 regulations, she must be notified accordingly.

Furthermore, the court ordered the restoration of the petitioner's seniority in the list within one week and listed the case for hearing next on July 12, along with a similar matter.

The plea highlights that "the 2022 Regulations came into force on 23rd September 2022 i.e., the date of the notification in official Gazette. The said Regulations do not provide for retrospective implementation and hence, the Committee's decision to implement the Regulations retrospectively is contrary to the settled law that any Statute/Rules/Regulations have a prospective operation unless the Statute/Rules/Regulations specifically provide for its retrospective operation".