Supreme court agrees to examine plea for gender and religion-neutral uniform law on adoption

New Delhi, January 30, 2021: The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the central government demanding the implementation of equal adoption and guardianship law for all.

BJP leader and lawyer Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay has filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding the removal of the discrepancies in the adoption and guardianship law and enforcing the same law for all. The petition states that there should not be discrimination on the basis of religion, sex, caste or class in the Adoption and Guardianship Act. The law should be gender-neutral and religion-neutral.

Notice issued to ministries 

Today, a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde issued notice to the Law Ministry, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Women and Child Development on the petition of Upadhyay. Along with this, the court attached this petition for hearing along with the petition seeking to apply the same rules of divorce and maintenance to all. The petition seeking the same rules of divorce and maintenance for all is also from Upadhyay, on which the court has already issued notice.

The petition, seeking equal adoption and guardianship law for all, states that at present different religions have different rules and grounds for adoption and guardianship, while the law should be gender-neutral and religion-neutral. The petitioner says that under the present Hindu Adoption and Guardianship Act, the adopted child gets all kinds of property and other rights like biological children whereas in other religions Muslims, Christians and Parsis do not. There is no rule of child adoption in Muslim personal law.

Muslims do not get all rights

The Kafala system is applicable to Muslims in which an adopted child does not get all the rights like a biological child. Only one-third of the property can be given to that child. There is no separate law for child adoption even in Christian and Zoroastrianism. Upadhyay says that even the Hindu Adoption and Guardianship Act is not gender-neutral even in that the man has been given priority.

Need for equal adoption of guardianship law 

In view of these things, there is a need to bring equal gender-neutral and religion-neutral adoptive and custodial laws for all. It has been said that the constitution has been amended 125 times in the last 70 years, but Article 44 which talks about implementing the Uniform Civil Code has not been implemented to date. The petitioner says that uniform civil code is in force in Goa and all communities are satisfied with it, so when uniform civil code can be applicable in Goa, then why not in the whole country.