Not necessary for parents to keep announcing to world that they are adoptive parents: Madras High Court while ordering re-issuance of passport

The Madras High Court recently came to the aid of a father facing issues in securing re-issuance of a passport for his adopted child. .In doing so, Justice N Anand Venkatesh also had occasion to point out that once a birth certificate has been issued indicating that the adopted parents are the parents of the adopted child, there is no need for the parents to keep announcing to the world that they are adoptive parents..As noted in the order passed last Tuesday:"An application was submitted before the competent authority and birth certificate was also issued in the name of the petitioner on 04.03.2016. It is clear from the birth certificate that the father of the petitioner is ... and the mother of the petitioner is ... By virtue of this birth certificate, the parents will have to be treated almost like natural parents and thereafter, it is not necessary for the parents to keep announcing to the world that they are the adoptive parents of the petitioner.".The issue came to be discussed following the Passport Authority's contention that the child's parents had suppressed that they had adopted the child when a passport was obtained for the first time for the child (petitioner). .However, the Judge highlighted that, as rightly pointed out by the petitioner's counsel, there was no separate column provided in an application for the issue of passport to declare whether the child is a natural child or an adopted child.."In the absence of any such column in the application form, it cannot be said that the parents of the petitioner had suppressed that the petitioner was an adopted child when the earlier application was made for issuance of the passport in the name of the petitioner. The passport in fact was correctly issued in the name of the petitioner by showing the name of her parents", the Court said. .Case background.The petition was filed by the adopted child challenging an April 12, 2021 letter issued by the Regional Passport Officer, Madurai asking her father to surrender the passport issued to her earlier and to attend an inquiry. .This letter was sent after the father applied for the re-issue of the child's passport since her first passport was set to expire in May 2021. .The Court was told that the child had been adopted in 2015 from Jalandhar by the childless married couple after complying with requisite procedures, including permission from a Guardian Court, which had ordered:"This Court is of the opinion that above named child shall be treated by the petitioners as their own natural born child with no differentiation in terms of treatment care education, affection and matter of inheritance.".The adoption was executed by the adoption agency in November 2015 and the same was registered. A birth certificate was also issued by the competent authority on December 21, 2015, wherein the name of the adoptive father and mother of the child was specifically mentioned. .It was after this that the mother and father of the child applied for the child's first passport which was issued for a period from June 1, 2016 to May 31, 2021..In 2019, there was some marital discord between the adoptive parents. After they began living separately, the mother filed a petition in the Madras High Court seeking to be appointed as the child's legal guardian and seeking custody of the child. The petition was, however, withdrawn after the marriage was dissolved on January 29 the same year. Thereafter, the child remained in the custody of the adoptive father. .Not necessary that the parents will have to knock Court's doors for every development that takes place in future.The Court, ultimately, opined that it has no hesitation in interfering with the Passport Authority's April 12 letter and quash the same. .It proceeded to order the Regional Passport Authority to consider the application submitted by the petitioner's father on March 29 and to re-issue the passport of the petitioner (child), if the application is otherwise in order. .This is to be done within four weeks from the date of receiving a copy of the order, the Court added..The Court also rejected the Passport Authority's argument that the dissolution of the child's adoptive parents' marriage should have been brought to the notice of the Court and an appropriate order ought to have been obtained before submitting the application for re-issue of passport. .Further, the Judge also declined to entertain the Authority's contention that the father had been called in for inquiry to ensure the welfare of the child. ."The petitioner is taken care by her father who is now the natural guardian and he is in custody of the child. Since the period of the passport issued to the petitioner was expiring, the petitioner had made an application seeking for re-issuance of the passport. The first respondent ought to have taken into consideration all these developments and proceeded to scrutinize the application. No one has complained till now that the parents are acting against the welfare of the child", the Court said..The Court noted that the adoption agency had earlier been asked to visit every six months to make sure the child is being looked after well. .Moreover, the various safety directions issued by the Guardian Court at Jalandhar in 2015 were only for an initial period, when the Court wanted to ensure that the child is properly taken care of."It is not necessary that for every development that takes place in future, the parents will have to knock the doors of the Court. Even otherwise, the first respondent need not have taken pains to enquire into the issue of welfare of the child and it was enough if the first respondent had confined to scrutinizing the records available before him", the High Court emphasized. .In view of these observations, the writ petition was allowed. .Advocate S Maimoona Badsha appeared for the petitioner. Assistant Solicitor General L Victoria Gowri appeared for the Regional Passport Authority, Madurai and standing counsel Lingadurai appeared for the Inspector of Police, Annanagar, Madurai..[Read Judgment]