Allahabad High Court: The Court observed that a child can be given in adoption by a parent if the other parent has abandoned the child and failed to fulfil all his duties as a parent.
The case before the Court was that the mother, who had remarried after her divorce, wished to give the child in adoption to her new husband. Since the father of the child was still alive and had not expressed consent for the adoption of the child, the District Court did not allow such adoption.
The Court observed that the biological father of the child has abandoned him; rather has renounced him and has not performed any of his duties, which he owes to the child. He has also given up all his rights including the right of visitation. The Court reiterated that “if the biological father in this case has not taken any measures to bear his responsibility, the laws and the Court will hesitate to grant any such right in favour of a parent who has failed to do so.”
The High Court observed that although Indian law does not vest the exclusive right of giving in adoption to any one parent, yet the renunciation of such child by the parent shall be taken into consideration while determining the matter at hand. If the father had refrained from performing his fatherly duties then the mother can be given permission to give the child in adoption to her new husband. However, it is to be noted that such permission can be granted only if the father has completely and unequivocally given up his rights on the child. The consent of the other parent can be done away with only if the parent has renounced the world and not the child alone. [Shweta Gupta v. Rahul Keshav Jadhao; 2017 SCC OnLine All 2289, decided on 04.10.2017]
