Section 30 in Punjab Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2014
30. Adoption.
(1)The primary aim of adoption is to provide a child, who cannot be cared for by his biological parents with a permanent substitute family.(2)For all matters relating to adoption, the guidelines issued by the Central Adoption Resource Agency and notified by the Central Government, shall apply.(3)In case of orphaned and abandoned children, the following procedure shall apply, namely:-(a)specialized adoption agencies shall produce all orphaned and abandoned children, who are to be declared legally free for adoption before the Child Welfare Committee within twenty-four hours of receiving such children, excluding the time taken for journey;(b)a child becomes eligible for adoption when the said Committee has completed its inquiry and declares that the child is legally free for adoption;(c)such declaration shall be made in Form XIV;(d)a child must be produced before the Committee at the time of declaring such child legally free for adoption;(e)whenever intimation is received by the police about an abandoned infant, the police shall take charge of the infant and arrange to provide immediate medical assistance and care;(f)subsequently, the child shall be placed in a specialized adoption agency or recognized and certified childrens home or in a pediatric unit of a Government hospital followed by production of the child before the said Committee within twenty-four hours; and(g)procedure for declaring a child abandoned and certifying him legally free for adoption shall be as under:-(i)in case of an abandoned child, the recognized agency shall within twenty four hours, report and produce the child before the said Committee along with the copy of the report filed with the police station in whose jurisdiction the child was found abandoned;(ii)the said Committee will institute a process of inquiry, which shall include a thorough inquiry conducted by the Probation Officer or Child Welfare Officer, as the case may be and who shall give report in Form XIII to the Committee containing the findings within a period of one month;(iii)there shall be a declaration by the specialized adoption agency, stating that there has been no claimant for the child even after making notification in at least one leading national newspaper and one regional language newspaper for children below two years of age and for children above two years, an additional television or radio announcement and notification to the missing persons squad or bureau shall also be made;(iv)the steps stated in sub-clause (iii), shall be taken within a period of sixty days from the date when the child is found in case of a child below two years of age, and in case of children above two years of age, with in a period of four months;(v)the period of notification shall run concurrently with the inquiry to be conducted and report submitted under sub-clause (ii);(vi)the said Committee shall declare the child legally free for adoption on completion of the process of inquiry, including declaration of the specialized adoption agency made under sub-clauses (ii) and (iii); and(vii)no child above seven years who can understand and express his opinion, shall be declared free for adoption without his consent.(4)In case of surrendered children, the following procedure shall apply, namely:-(a)a surrendered child is one, who had been declared as such after due process of inquiry by the Committee and in order to be declared legally free for adoption, a `surrendered child shall be any of the following:-(i)born as a consequence of non-consensual relationship;(ii)born of an unwed mother or out of wedlock;(iii)a child in whose case one of the biological parents is dead and the living parent is incapacitated to take care;(iv)a child where the parents or guardians are compelled to relinquish him due to physical, emotional and social factors beyond their control;(b)serious efforts shall be made by the Committee for counseling the parents, explaining the consequences of adoption and exploring the possibilities of parents retaining the child and if, the parents are unwilling to retain, then, such children shall be kept initially in foster care or arranged for their sponsorship;(c)if the surrendered child is inevitable, a deed of surrender in Form XV shall be executed on a non judicial stamp paper in the presence of the Committee;(d)the adoption agencies shall wait for completion of two months reconsideration time given to the biological parent or parents after surrender;(e)in case of a child surrendered by his biological parent or parents, the document of surrender shall be executed by the parent or parents before the Committee; and(f)after due inquiry, the Committee shall declare the surrendered child legally free for adoption in Form XIII, as the case may be, after a sixty days reconsideration period as per the Central Adoption Resource Agency guidelines.
