The passport office had asked the couple to get HC clearance for the girl's passport. The court, in turn, sought help from Ministry of External Affairs.
An adoption case of a minor Indian girl by a Non-Resident Indian (NRI) couple has landed before the Gujarat high court as the local passport office has sought the court's order before issuing an Indian passport to the girl.
The case relates to a Gujarati-origin couple that had settled in Kenya a decade back. The couple recently adopted the 11-year-old daughter of their uncle residing in Gujarat. They also registered the adoption before the officer of the sub-registrar. But when they sought an Indian passport for the girl, the passport office instructed them to get an order from the competent court as the issue relates to adoption of Indian child by an NRI couple.
The issue, thus, landed before the high court which has sought clarification from the Ministry of External Affairs (MoEA) regarding rules in such cases.
While posting the matter for February 17, a bench of justice SR Brahmbhatt said, "This court is of the considered view that this statement needs to be examined. It is open to the respondent to bring about by way of affidavit any instruction issued from Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Central Government in respect of guidelines, instructions with regard to preparing passport in a case of a child who is being adopted by a person holding passport other than an Indian passport."
Earlier, the counsel of the petitioner couple contended before the high court that, "There exists no restriction or bar against a Hindu foreign national adopting an Indian child. Restriction or bar and freedom to adopt Indian child by a foreigner of Hindu religion, without any formal permission or consultation with the agencies, and instrumentalities of the states in India, should act in favour of the petitioner in obtaining a passport."
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