Right To Adopt Is Not A Fundamental Right: Delhi High Court (image: delhihighcourt.nic.in/)

Delhi High Court in a recent order held that the right to adopt cannot be considered as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. The court has also added that prospective adoptive parents do not have any right to choose who to adopt.

The High Court made these observation while handling a couple of pleas submitted by many prospective parents with two biological children and wanted to adopt a third child. In the order, Justice Subramonium Prasad validated the retrospective application of a regulation which directed that couples with two or more children can only adopt children with special needs or those hard to place.

“The right to adopt cannot be raised to the status of a fundamental right within Article 21 nor can it be raised to a level granting PAPs (prospective adoptive parents) the right to demand their choice of who to adopt. The adoption process in entirety operates on the premise of welfare of children and therefore the rights flowing within the adoption framework does not place the rights of the PAPs at the forefront,” Hindustan Times reports as the Court is saying.

The Court stated in the order that there is a long wait for adoption and there were many childless couples and parents with one child who would want to adopt a “normal child” but the chances of a specially abled child being adopted are distant. Thereby, the regulation, intend to ensure that more children with special needs get adopted.

“The long wait for prospective parents including those who are devoid of even one biological child must be seen in the backdrop of a grave mismatch between the number of normal children available for adoption and the number of PAPs in expectation of adopting a normal child,” Hindustan Times quotes as the High Court is saying.

Therefore, the judge in its 41-page order sought for “a balanced approach”.