Adoption in India: HAMA, the Juvenile Justice Act and CARA

India has two main legal routes to adoption. Hindus (including Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs) can adopt under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA) by an actual giving and taking of the child, while any person of any religion can adopt under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, through the CARINGS portal run by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA). Since the 2021 amendment, the final adoption order under the JJ Act is passed by the District Magistrate, not a civil court.

This explainer is for B.A. LL.B. and LL.B. students preparing family law and child rights papers, and for families in Kanyakumari District and elsewhere who want to know which law applies to them. Mixing up the two routes is the most common error in exam answers, and in real life it can leave a child without a valid legal status.

What does HAMA require for a valid adoption?

Section 5(1) of HAMA says any adoption by or to a Hindu made in contravention of the Act is void. Section 6 then lists four requisites: the adopter must have the capacity and the right to take in adoption, the giver must have the capacity to give, the child must be capable of being adopted, and the other conditions in the chapter must be met.

• Who may adopt (Sections 7 and 8): a male or female Hindu of sound mind who is not a minor. A married man needs his wife's consent, and a married woman needs her husband's consent, unless the spouse has finally renounced the world, ceased to be a Hindu, or been declared of unsound mind by a court.
• Who may give (Section 9): the father and mother have an equal right, but neither can give without the other's consent. Where the parents are dead, have abandoned the child, or parentage is unknown, a guardian may give the child only with the court's previous permission.
• Who may be adopted (Section 10): a Hindu child who has not already been adopted, is unmarried, and has not completed fifteen years, unless a custom applicable to the parties permits otherwise.
• Other conditions (Section 11): no living Hindu son (for adopting a son) or daughter (for adopting a daughter), an age gap of at least twenty-one years where the adopter and child are of opposite sex, and an actual giving and taking of the child. Datta homam is not essential.

Section 12 deems the child to be the child of the adoptive parents for all purposes from the date of adoption. Section 15 bars cancellation of a valid adoption. Section 16 raises a presumption of validity where a registered document recording the adoption, signed by the giver and the taker, is produced before a court, unless it is disproved.

How does adoption work under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015?

Section 56(1) of the JJ Act says adoption is to ensure the right to family for orphan, abandoned and surrendered children. Section 56(2) allows adoption from a relative by another relative, irrespective of religion. Section 56(3) is the bridge to HAMA: nothing in the Act applies to adoptions made under HAMA. Section 56(4) makes the JJ Act the only route for inter-country adoption.

Section 57 sets eligibility. Adoptive parents must be physically fit, financially sound, mentally alert and highly motivated, both spouses must consent, and a single male cannot adopt a girl child. Section 63 says an adoption order makes the child the child of the adoptive parents "for all purposes, including intestacy". Section 80 punishes adoption without following the prescribed procedure with imprisonment up to three years, a fine of one lakh rupees, or both. Section 81 punishes selling or buying a child with rigorous imprisonment up to five years and a fine of one lakh rupees.

What changed in 2021, and who passes the order now?

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2021 (No. 23 of 2021) received assent on 7 August 2021. It replaced the word "court" with "District Magistrate" in Sections 61 and 63, and defined District Magistrate to include an Additional District Magistrate. Section 61 already required adoption cases to be disposed of within two months from the date of filing, and that limit now applies to the District Magistrate. The proceedings are held in camera.

The amendment also added an appeal. Under the new Section 101(6), anyone aggrieved by the District Magistrate's adoption order can appeal to the Divisional Commissioner within thirty days of the order. Section 101(7) asks for the appeal to be decided as quickly as possible, with an effort to dispose of it within four weeks of filing. Where a State has no Divisional Commissioner, it can notify an officer of equivalent rank to hear these appeals.

What are the steps under the Adoption Regulations, 2022?

CARA notified the Adoption Regulations, 2022 in the Gazette on 23 September 2022. For a resident Indian family, the broad sequence is:

1. Register on CARINGS using the Schedule 6 form and upload the required documents.
2. A home study report is prepared by a Specialised Adoption Agency, the District Child Protection Unit or a social worker empanelled by the State Adoption Resource Agency. It stays valid for three years.
3. Wait for referrals in order of seniority. Once a child is referred, you have 48 hours to reserve the child, and matching must be completed within 30 days of reservation. Declining a referral sends you to the bottom of the seniority list.
4. Take the child into pre-adoption foster care after signing the undertaking in the Schedule 8 format.
5. The agency files the application before the District Magistrate through the District Child Protection Unit, and the District Magistrate is to decide it within two months of filing.
6. After the order, the agency prepares post-adoption follow-up reports for two years.

The regulations also fix age limits. A couple's combined age may not exceed 85 to adopt a child up to two years, and there must be at least 25 years between the child and either parent. Relative and step-parent adoptions are exempt from the age criteria. CARA issued a public notice in August 2026 inviting comments on the 2022 Regulations, so check the CARA website for any revised version before you rely on a specific timeline.

How have the courts read these laws?

• Lakshmi Kant Pandey v. Union of India, (1984) 2 SCC 244: the Supreme Court laid down safeguards for adoption of Indian children by foreigners, the foundation of today's inter-country regime.
• Shabnam Hashmi v. Union of India (19 February 2014): a three-judge bench held that the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 is an optional, enabling law that any person may use, whatever their personal law. The Court declined to declare the right to adopt a fundamental right under Article 21 at that stage. The Madras High Court relied on it for the 2015 Act in the Heerajohn case below.
• K. Heerajohn v. District Registrar (Madras High Court, Madurai Bench, 17 October 2025): a Muslim couple wanted their adoption deed for a deceased brother's child registered. Justice G.R. Swaminathan refused to direct registration and pointed the parties to the relative adoption procedure under the 2022 Regulations, noting that once a District Magistrate passes an adoption order, registration is unnecessary. He held that "an adopted child cannot be given a second class status", and directed the authorities to finish verification and the District Magistrate's order within three weeks at each stage.

How should you write this in an exam?

Start by identifying the religion of the parties and the status of the child. A Hindu couple in Nagercoil adopting a nephew can use HAMA by deed. A Muslim or Christian couple in Madurai must use the JJ Act. Then set out the statutory conditions with section numbers, apply them to the facts, and cite Shabnam Hashmi for the optional nature of the JJ Act. Close by stating the order-making authority (District Magistrate) and the appeal under Section 101(6). If a question asks about criminal liability for trafficking or sale, start with Sections 80 and 81 of the JJ Act and remember that procedure now follows the BNSS, which replaced the CrPC on 1 July 2024.

Families who need help with the paperwork can approach the college legal aid clinic for guidance.

Sources

• Central Adoption Resource Authority: official portal with the JJ Act, the 2021 amendment, the Adoption Regulations, 2022 and CARINGS registration.
• Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015: text of the Act, including Sections 56 to 63, 80 and 81.
• CARA Office Memorandum on HAMA to JJ re-applications: why a completed HAMA adoption is not processed again under the JJ Act.
• Adoption Regulations, 2022: Gazette text notified on 23 September 2022.
• JJ (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2021: amendments moving adoption orders to the District Magistrate.
• Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956: full text of the Act.
• Shabnam Hashmi v. Union of India (2014): Supreme Court judgment on the JJ Act as an optional law.
• K. Heerajohn v. District Registrar (2025): Madras High Court ruling on adoption deeds and the JJ Act route.