Delhi High Court - Orders
Rupinder Kaur Sandhu & Anr vs Union Of India & Ors on 21 May, 2026
Author: Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav
Bench: Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav
$~16
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) 3063/2026 & CM APPL. 21706/2026
RUPINDER KAUR SANDHU & ANR. .....Petitioners
Through: Ms. Sheenam Chhabra and Ms.
Anjani Chhabra, Advocates.
versus
UNION OF INDIA & ORS.
.....Respondent
Through: Mr. Nishant Gautam, CGSC with Ms.
Kavya Shukla, Mr. Vineet Negi, Mr.
Vibhav V. Nath, Advs., Officer
present: Mr Sumit Bhargava, Adv
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV
ORDER
% 21.05.2026
1. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner places reliance on the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Temple of healing v. Union of India3. She has specifically drawn the attention of the Court to paragraphs 20 and 21 of the said decision, which are extracted as under:
"20. As regards HAMA, during the course of hearing, both Ms Aishwarya Bhati, Additional Solicitor General and Dr Jagannath Pati, Director CARA have categorically stated before the Court that the process of adoption under HAMA is independent of the Regulations of 2022 which have been framed under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. It has been stated that CARA intervenes only when an adoption certificate is required by the adoptive parents in order to facilitate the travel of the adopted child to a country outside India. CARA has stated in its note submitted to this Court 3 2023 SCC OnLine SC 1590 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 22/05/2026 at 22:27:10 that based on the fact that HAMA is a statute governing the personal law for Hindus, the Ministry of Women and Child Development has issued a notification on 17 September 2021 entrusting CARA with the duty of issuing documents for inter-country adoption concluded under HAMA wherein Non-Resident Indians/Overseas Citizens of India Card Holder parents desire to relocate the adopted child abroad. The note submitted before the Court also indicates that a central challenge is to ensure that HAMA adoptions align with international adoption conventions, such as the 1993 Hague Inter-country Adoption Convention. It has been stated that although CARA has been processing adoption cases of NRI/OCI PAPs, the receiving countries do not necessarily consider HAMA to be in conformity with the Hague Convention procedure. CARA has thus far issued adoption support letters to NRI/OCI PAPs in 66 cases since May 2022.
21. In order to provide to this Court adequate data on the number and extent of HAMA adoptions, we direct that all States and Union Territories shall compile and submit to the Director CARA, the annual data pertaining to HAMA adoptions for 2021, 2022 and 2023 within each of their respective territories as on 15 January 2024. This data shall be submitted to the Director CARA by 31 January 2024."
2. She, therefore, submits that the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) be directed to issue adoption support letter to the petitioner and in turn, the passport authority be also directed to consider the same for issuance of the passport to the petitioner.
3. In order to deal with the petitioner's grievance, let Mr. Nishant Gautam, learned CGSC to take instructions with respect to the submissions made by the petitioner. Mr. Gautam to also assist the Court bearing in mind other decisions cited by the petitioner.
4. On his request, list on 26.05.2026.
PURUSHAINDRA KUMAR KAURAV, J MAY 21, 2026/p This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 22/05/2026 at 22:27:10