NEW DELHI: A parent who has two biological children and looking for adopting a third ‘normal child’ approached the Delhi High Court against adoption restrictions under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
As per the act, changes made in the Adoption Regulations prevent parents from adopting a ‘normal child', who is not suffering from any disability, if they already have two children. Petitioner Jesi Jeevarathinam said that she applied in December 2020 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 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 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.