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PETITIONER: LAXMI KANT PANDEY

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: UNION OF INDIA

DATE OF JUDGMENT03/12/1986

BENCH: BHAGWATI, P.N. (CJ) BENCH: BHAGWATI, P.N. (CJ) MISRA RANGNATH

CITATION:  1987 AIR  232            1987 SCR  (1) 383  1987 SCC  (1)  66        JT 1986   950  1986 SCALE  (2)913

ACT:     Children--Adoption  by  Indian/Foreign   parents--Guide- lines/directions  given  to the Scrutinising  Agencies  with regard to its services and remuneration.     Foster Care Homes & Recognised Placement  Agencies--Duty to  exchange with one another information  regarding  Indian Parents wishing to adopt Indian children.     Abandoned/destitute children--Duty of  Hospitals/Nursing Homes to inform Social Welfare Department/Collector  regard- ing discovery or find of such children.     Hindu  Adoptions & Maintenance Act, 1956,  s.9(4)--Adop- tion   of  children--Notice    of   application--Publication of--Notice  need not  be published.     Juvenile  Courts--Abandoned/destitute   children--Decla- ration of--Release order--Juvenile Court to complete inquiry within  one month & pass the order--High Court to  supervise proper  vigilance over Juvenile Courts--Release  Order--When can be dispensed with.     Recognised  placement  agencies--Duty of  Government  to publish  lists  every  year--Recognised  placement  Agencies entitled  to  recover its costs incurred in  processing  the application from the foreigner.

HEADNOTE:     The  Supreme Court in the judgment of Laxmi Kant  Pandey v.  Union of India dated 6th February, 1984 and the  supple- mental  judgment dated 27th September, 1985  had  formulated the  normative and procedural safeguards to be  followed  in giving an Indian child in adoption to foreign parents. Since there  were certain difficulties in implementing the  afore- said norms and principles, the petitioners moved the present criminal     miscellaneous     petitions     for     seeking clarification/further directions in the matter. Disposing of the petitions, 384     HELD:  1.  When the court makes an  order  appointing  a foreign  parent  as guardian of a child with a view  to  its eventual  adoption  in the foreign country, the  court  will provide  that such amount shall be paid to the  scrutinising agency  for  its  services as the  court  thinks  reasonable having  regard to the nature of the case and the extent  and

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volume of the services rendered by the scrutinising  agency. In  case  of  an application for appointment  of  a  foreign parent  as guardian of a child the Court would be  justified in  directing payment of any reasonable amount  varying  be- tween  Rs.450 and Rs.500 but in appropriate cases where  the courts  so  think fit. such amount may even  exceed  Rs.500. This amount shall be directed to be paid to the scrutinising agency by the recognised placement agency and such placement agency shall have the right to recover such amount from  the foreign  parent  whose application for guardianship  it  has processed.  This direction will also apply mutaris  mutandis in  cases  where an Indian parent makes an  application  for appointing  himself or herself as guardian of a child  or  a Hindu  parent applies for permission to adopt a child  under s.9  sub-s.(4) of the Hindu Adoptions and  Maintenance  Act, 1956  and the case is referred to a scrutinising  agency  by the  Court, but in such cases the amount to be fixed by  the Court  for meeting the expenses of the  scrutinising  agency shall not exceed Rs.150. [387G -- 388C]     2.1  All nursing homes and hospitals which  come  across abandoned or destitute children or find such children  aban- doned in their precincts or otherwise shall immediately give information  in  regard  to the discovery or  find  of  such children  to the Social Welfare Department of the  concerned Government where such nursing homes or hospitals are situate in  the capital of the State and in other cases to the  Col- lector  of the District and copies of such  intimation  will also  be sent to the Foster Care Home where there is such  a home run by the Government as also to the recognised  place- ment  agencies  functioning in the city or town  where  such nursing homes or hospitals are situate. [388F -- G]     2.2 Each Indian parent who is registered with the Foster Care Home or a recognised placement agency as a  prospective parent wishing to take a child in adoption and who has  been informed by the recognised placement agency that a child  is available for adoption will be entitled to information about all the children available for adoption in the group  speci- fied  by him, according to the consolidated list  maintained by the recognised placement agency. [389B]     3. The Supreme Court had directed in paragraph 22 of the main judgment that the notice of the application for  guard- ianship  in cases of adoption by foreign parents should  not be published in any newspaper because otherwise the biologi- cal  parents  would come to know as to who are  the  parents taking the child in adoption. This.direction must also cover the cases where 385 Hindu Parents make an application under s.9 sub-s.(4) of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. [389D -- E]     4. No recognised placement agency shall make and process an application for appointment of a foreigner as guardian of a  child  with a view to its eventual adoption,  unless  the child  has been in the custody of the  recognised  placement agency for a period of at least one month before the  making of  the  application and it shall not be  permitted  to  act merely  as a post office or conduit pipe for the benefit  of an unrecognised agency. [390D -- E]     5.  Whenever  a child is produced  before  the  Juvenile Court  by a recognised placement agency for a release  order declaring that the child is abandoned or destitute so as  to be legally free for adoption, the Juvenile Court must in all such  cases complete the inquiry within one month  from  the date  of  the  application and proper  vigilance  should  be exercised  by  the High Court. High Courts should  call  for monthly  reports from the Juvenile Courts stating as to  how

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many applications for release orders, that is, for declaring children  abandoned  or destitute, are pending  before  each Juvenile  Court, when they were filed and if they  have  not been  disposed of within one month, what is the  reason  for the  delay.  Where the Juvenile Court is not  in  existence, application for release order is required to be made to  the Social Welfare Department in the capital of the State or  to the  Collector of the District in other places.  The  Social Welfare  Department  or the Collector, as the case  may  be, will  dispose  of such application within one month  of  its making. [391B -- D, F]     6. The Court entertaining an application for appointment of a foreigner as guardian of a child should not require the representative,of the recognised placement agency processing the  application to join the application as a  co-petitioner nor  should the court insist on appointing such  representa- tive as joint guardian of the child alongwith the foreigner. [392C]     7.  Where  a  child is relinquished  by  its  biological parents or by an unwed mother under a Deed of Relinquishment executed  by the biological parents or the unwed  mother  it should not be necessary to go through the Juvenile Court  or the  Social Welfare Department or the Collector to obtain  a release  order declaring the child free for adoption but  it would be enough to produce the Deed of Relinquishment before the  court which considered the application for  appointment of a foreigner as guardian of the child. [393B]     8.1 Where an abandoned or destitute child is found by  a recognised  placement agency or is brought to it by  another social  or child welfare agency or individual it  should  be open  to  such recognised placement agency to  transfer  the child to its branch in another State after the completion of the inquiry by the 386 juvenile  court or Social Welfare Department or the  Collec- tor,  as  the case may be. Where such  recognised  placement agency  has an associate social or child welfare  agency  in another State, it should be open to the recognised placement agency  to  transfer the child to such associate  social  or child  welfare agency in the other State, provided  firstly, that  the inquiry is complete by the juvenile court  or  the Social  Welfare  Department or the Collector and  a  release order is passed, and secondly, the associate social or child welfare agency has been notified by the recognised placement agency as its associate to the Government of the State where the  recognised placement agency is functioning as  also  to the  Government of the State where the associate  social  or child  welfare agency is operating. If, for  any  compelling reason,  it becomes necessary for the  recognised  placement agency to transfer a child either to its own branch or to an associate  social or child welfare agency before  completion of  the inquiry by the juvenile court or the Social  Welfare Department or the Collector, as the case may be, the  recog- nised  placement  agency  shall be allowed to  do  so  after obtaining  permission  of the juvenile court or  the  Social Welfare Department or the Collector in that behalf. [394E -- 395A]     8.2  The Government of India is directed (i) to  publish at  least  once  in a year a list  of  recognised  placement agencies  and  all their associate social or  child  welfare agencies operating in each State in two leading  newspapers; and  (ii)  to  send to the District  Courts  in  each  State through  the High Court a list of the  recognised  placement agencies  functioning  within the State  together  with  the names  and  particulars of their associate social  or  child

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welfare agencies. Such list must be supplied to the District Judges  at least Once in a year and whenever any changes  or modifications are made in the list, such change or modifica- tions  most be intimated to the District JUdges through  the High Court. [395 B -- C]     9. The recognised placement agency processing the appli- cation  of  a foreigner for being appointed  guardian  of  a child with a view to its eventual adoption, should be  enti- tled to recover from the foreigner, cost incurred in prepar- ing  and filing the application and prosecuting it in  court including legal expenses,  administrative expenses  prepara- tion of child study report, preparation of medical and  I.Q. Reports, passport and visa expenses and conveyance  expenses and that such expenses may be fixed by the court at a figure not exceeding Rs.6000. [395F]     10. In case of a foreigner who has been living in  India for  one year or more, the home-study report and other  con- nected  documents  may  be allowed to the  prepared  by  the recognised placement agency which is processing the applica- tion  of such foreigner for guardianship of a child  with  a view  to its eventual adoption and that in such a  case  the court should not insist on sponsoring of such foreigner by a social or child welfare agency based in the 387 country  to which such foreigner belongs nor should a  home- study report in respect of such foreigner be required to  be obtained  from  any  such foreign social  or  child  welfare agency. [396B]     11. The court entertaining an application on behalf of a foreigner  for  being appointed guardian of a child  with  a view to its eventual adoption need not insist on security or cash deposit or bank guarantee and it should be enough if  a bond is taken from the recognised placement agency which  is processing  the  application and such  recognised  placement agency  may in its turn take a corresponding bond  from  the sponsoring  social  or child welfare agency in  the  foreign country. [396D -- F]

JUDGMENT:     ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Criminal Misc. Petition No.  6693 of 1986 etc. in Writ Petition (Crl) No. 1171 of 1982. Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. Petitioner-in-person.     B. Datta, Additional Solicitor General, Jagdeep Kishore, T.V.S.N.  Chari, Ms. K. Jaiswal, D.N. Mishra, B.M.  Bagaria, P.H.  Parekh, M.K.D. Namboodri, Kailash Vasdev,  H.K.  Puri, R.K.   Mehta,   S.   Kaushal  and   C.V.S.   Rao   for   the Respondent/Applicant.     The Judgment of the ’Court was delivered by Crl. M.P. No. 3141/86     BHAGWATI,  C J: This application has been filed  by  the Indian  Council for Child Welfare for obtaining a  direction that when it is required to act as a scrutinising agency  by the Court, a certain amount should be directed to be paid to it  for the scrutinising services rendered by it, since  the scrutinising services would require employment of staff  and other necessary expenditure. Though this application is made only  by the Indian Council for Child Welfare, we  apprehend that all other scrutinising agencies must also be facing the same  difficulty.  We would therefore direct that  when  the Court makes an order appointing a foreign parent as guardian of  a  child  with a view to its eventual  adoption  in  the foreign  country,  the Court will provide that  such  amount

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shall be paid to the scrutinising agency for its services as the Court thinks reasonable, having regard to the nature  of the case and the extent and volume of the services  rendered by the scrutinising agency. We think that in the case of  an application for appointment of a foreign parent as  guardian of a child the Court would be justified in directing payment of any reasonable amount varying between 388 Rs.450  and Rs.500 but in appropriate cases where the  Court so  thinks  fit, such amount may even  exceed  Rs.500.  This amount  shall  be directed to be paid  to  the  scrutinising agency  by the recognised placement agency which  has  proc- essed  the application of the foreign parent for  being  ap- pointed  guardian of the child with a view to  its  eventual adoption and the such placement agency shall have the  right to recover such amount from the foreign parent whose  appli- cation  for  guardianship it has processed.  This  direction will  also apply mutatis mutandis in cases where an,  Indian parent  makes an application for appointing himself or  her- self  as guardian of a child or a Hindu parent  applies  for permission to adopt a child under section 9 sub-section  (4) of  the  Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956  and  the case is referred to a scrutinising agency by the Court,  but in such cases the amount to be fixed by the Court for  meet- ing the expenses of the scrutinising agency shall not exceed Rs.150.  Both in the case of an application on behalf  of  a foreign  parents  as also in the case of an  application  on behalf  of  an Indian or Hindu parent, a copy of  the  order made  by the Court appointing the scrutinising agency  shall be supplied to the scrutinising agency immediately after the order  is made, together with the papers and documents  sub- mitted  to the Court in support of the application  for  ap- pointment of guardian or for permission to adopt. Crl M.P. No. 3142/86     This  application has been made by the petitioner  since according  to  the petitioner there have been  instances  of illegal  sales of babies. We may point out that by its  very nature  it  is not possible to devise a  fool-proof  formula which will in all cases prevent illegal sales of babies  but a procedure can and must be formulated which will definitely reduce the possibility of such illegal sales. With this  end in  view, we would direct that all nursing homes and  hospi- tals  which come across abandoned or destitute  children  or find  such children abandoned in their pre points or  other- wise  shall  immediately give information in regard  to  the discovery  or  find of such children to the  Social  Welfare Department  of the concerned Government where  such  nursing homes  or hospitals are situate in the capital of the  State and  in  other cases to the collector of  the  District  and copies  of such intimation will also be sent to  the  Foster Care  Home where there is such a home run by the  Government as also to the recognised placement agencies functioning  in the  city or town where such nursing homes or hospitals  are situate. The Social Welfare Department has also the  Collec- tor  of  the  District will take care to  ensure  that  this direction  given by us is followed by the nursing homes  and hospitals within their jurisdiction and if necessary intima- tion  in  regard to the discovery or find  of  abandoned  or destitute  children, if not sent by any  particular  nursing homes  or hospitals to the Foster Care Home and  the  recog- nised  placement agencies shall be forwarded to them by  the Social Welfare Department and the Collector of the District. 389     The  Foster Care Home run by the Government as also  the recognised placement agencies in the capital of the State or

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in the District will also exchange with one another informa- tion  regarding Indian parents who wish to take children  in adoption  so that the Foster Care Home as also  each  recog- nised placement agency will have a consolidated list of such Indian  parents. Each Indian parent who is  registered  with the  Foster Care Home or a recognised placement agency as  a prospective  parent wishing to take a child in adoption  and who  has  been informed by the recognised  placement  agency that  a child is available for adoption will be entitled  to information about all the children available for adoption in the  group specified by him, according to  the  consolidated list maintained by the recognised placement agency. CrL M.P. No. 4455/86     This Court directed in paragraph 22 of the main judgment dated  6th February 1984 that the notice of the  application for  guardianship should not be published in  any  newspaper and this was reiterated in the Supplementary Judgment  dated 27th  September,  1985,  because  otherwise  the  biological parents would come to know as to who are the parents  taking the  child in adoption. The question raised in  the  present application  is as to whether this direction should be  con- fined  only  to cases of adoption by foreign parents  or  it should  be extended to cover cases where Hindu parents  seek to  take a child in adoption and make an application to  the Court  for  that  purpose. We are of the  view  that  having regard  to the object and purpose for which  this  direction has  been given, it cannot be confined to the case of  adop- tion by foreign parents. It must also cover the cases  where Hindu  Parents make an application under section 9  sub-sec- tion  (4) of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act,  1956. We  would, therefore, clarify the direction given by us  and direct  that notice of an application under Section  9  sub- section (4) of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 will  also  not be published in any newspaper.  The  present application will stand disposed of accordingly. Crt M.P. 4064/86     This  application has been filed by the Karnataka  State Council  for Child Welfare complaining that the  object  and purpose  for  which various directions were  given  by  this Court in its main Judgment dated 6th February, 1984 and  the supplemental  Judgment dated 27th September, 1985  is  being defeated  by  the practice which has been  adopted  in  some places in the State of Karnataka where unrecognised agencies are using recognised placement agencies as post offices  for processing  cases  in respect of children which are  in  the custody  of  the unrecognised agencies and  with  which  the recognised placement agencies have nothing to do. The result of this practice is that the recognised placement 390 agencies merely act as conduit pipes for making and process- ing applications for appointment of a foreigner as  guardian of  a child, even though the child is not with them  at  all and they are not even in contact with the foreign sponsoring agency  or the foreigner wishing to take the child in  adop- tion.  This practice, if it is prevalent in any part of  the State of Karnataka or for that matter, in the country,  must meet with our disapprobation. It is the recognised placement agency which has to prepare the child study report including the medical report for submission to the Court alongwith the application for appointment of the foreigner as guardian  of the child and this obviously cannot be done unless the child is with the recognised placement agency, because the  recog- nised  placement agency has to observe the child and  gather full  information about it in order to be able to  make  the report for submission to the Court. The recognised placement

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agency  must therefore necessarily have the custody  of  the child  for  a  period of at least one month  before  it  can prepare d really genuine and satisfactory child study report alongwith  the medical report. If we permit  the  recognised placement  agency  to act merely as post office  or  conduit pipe for making and processing an application for  guardian- ship  on behalf of an unrecognised agency, it would lead  to manifold evils which it has been our endeavour to eliminate. We  would  therefore  direct that  no  recognised  placement agency shall make and process an application for appointment of  a  foreigner as guardian of a child with a view  to  its eventual adoption, unless the child has been in the  custody of the recognised placement agency for a period of at  least one month before the making of the application and it  shall not  be permitted to act merely as a post office or  conduit pipe for the benefit of an unrecognised agency. Crl. M.P. No. 4065/86     This application of the Delhi Council for Child  Welfare seeks clarification in respect of certain observations  made by  this Court in paragraph 6 of the  supplemental  judgment dated 27th September 1985. This Court, while providing  that children who are found abandoned should not be assumed to be free  for  adoption  but they must be  produced  before  the Juvenile  Court  so that further inquiries can be  made  and their  parents  or  guardians can be  traced,  directed  the Juvenile  Courts "that when children are selected for  adop- tion,  release order should be passed by them  expeditiously and  without delay and proper vigilance in this behalf  must be exercised by the High Court". The Delhi Council for Child Welfare  has pointed out in this application made by it  for clarification  that the Juvenile Courts are construing  this observation  literally and mechanically and are  taking  the view that release orders in respect of the children produced before  them  are to be passed  "expeditiously  and  without delay" only in cases where it can be said that the  children "are selected for adoption" and since no child can  possibly be offered in adoption unless it is 391 declared  legally free for adoption by the  Juvenile  Court, this direction given by the court for expeditious passing of release  orders  in cases where "children are  selected  for adoption"  has become meaningless and futile and  the  Court should suitably modify it. This contention raised on  behalf of  the  Delhi Council for Child  Welfare  is  well-founded, because  obviously  no  child can be  offered  for  adoption unless  the release order is passed in respect of it and  it would  therefore  be futile to provide  that  release  order shall  be passed expeditiously and without delay in case  of children  selected for adoption. We would  therefore  modify this direction given by us in paragraph 6 of the  supplemen- tal  Judgment  dated 27th September 1985 by  providing  that whenever a child is produced before the Juvenile Court by  a recognised  placement agency for a release  order  declaring that the child is abandoned or destitute so as to be legally free for adoption, the Juvenile Court must in all such cases complete  the inquiry within one month from the date of  the application and proper vigilance should be exercised by  the High Court for the purpose of ensuring that this new  direc- tion given by us is complied with by the Juvenile Courts. We would  ask the High Courts to all for monthly  reports  from the Juvenile Courts stating as to how many applications  for release orders, that is, for declaring children abandoned or destitute, are pending before each Juvenile Court, when they were filed and if they have not been disposed of within  one month, what is the reason for the delay. We are very anxious

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that  in respect of abandoned or destitute  children,  there should  be no undue delay in offering them for  adoption  to Indian  parents  and,  failing Indian  parents,  to  foreign parents, because it is absolutely essential that such  chil- dren should be able to secure love and affection of adoptive parents at the earliest. Indeed, nothing can take the  place of  love  and  affection of parents and  every  effort  must therefore  be made to see that no procedural delays hold  up the  process of such children being taken in adoption.  This new  direction given by us will also be applicable in  cases where,  the Juvenile Court not being in existence,  applica- tion for release order is required to be made to the  Social Welfare  Department  in the capital of the State or  to  the Collector  of the District in other places. The Social  Wel- fare  Department or the Collector, as the case may be,  will dispose of such application within one month of its making. Crl. M.P. No. 6693/85     There  were  several points raised in  this  application filed on behalf of Church of North India, Holy Cross  Social Service  Centre, Missionaries of Charity and  Delhi  Council for  Child  Welfare. The first point related to  a  practice which  is being followed in Delhi in regard to making of  an application. for appointment of a foreigner as guardian of a child  with  a view to its eventual adoption.  The  practice which  is  followed  in Delhi is that  the  application  for appointment  of  a foreigner as guardian is required  to  be signed  by  the representative of the  recognised  placement agency not only as Attorney of the 392 foreigner  but  also in his personal capacity, so  that  the application  becomes an application for appointment  of  the foreigner  as well as the representative of  the  recognised placement agency as joint guardians of the child. The  Court granting the application also appoints the foreigner as well as the representative of the recognised placement agency  as joint  guardians and both continue as joint guardians  until the  child is adopted by the foreigner in his  own  country. This procedure entails a continued obligation on the part of the recognised placement agency which is totally unnecessary and  in  fact, such procedure is not followed in  any  other part  of the country. It would in our opinion be  sufficient to ensure the eventual adoption of the child and its  proper care  and welfare in the meantime, if a bond is  taken  from the recognised placement agency to secure performance of the obligations and conditions laid down by the Court. We  would therefore direct that the court entertaining an  application for appointment of a foreigner as guardian of a child should not  require the representative of the recognised  placement agency processing the application to join the application as a  co-petitioner nor should the court insist  on  appointing such representative as joint guardian of the child alongwith the  foreigner.  Where a representative  of  the  recognised placement  agency has already been appointed joint  guardian prior  to  the making of this Order, he or  she  will  stand discharged  on the child being adopted by the  foreign  par- ents.     The second point raised on behalf of the applicants  was in regard to the delay which is at present occurring in  the procedure  forgiving a child in adoption to a  foreigner  in view  of  the time schedule fixed by the court in  the  main judgment  dated  6th  February, 1984  and  the  supplemental judgment dated 27th September 1985. The applicants contended that  the entire process laid down by the court is  a  long- drawn  out  process running into a period of about  8  to  9 months  and  that would defeat the object of  expedition  in

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giving a child in adoption. The applicants pointed out  that under  our judgments, where there is a child surrendered  by the biological parents, a minimum period of three months  is allowed to the biological parents to reconsider their  deci- sion  and  in  case of an abandoned or  destitute  child,  a period  of three months is provided for the Juvenile  Court, Social  Welfare  Department or the Collector  to  clear  the child  and declare it free for adoption and after the  child is  declared  free  for adoption, a maximum  period  of  two months  is  provided  to  find  an  Indian  family  for  the child--which  period  is  now curtailed  to  three  to  four weeks--and  thereafter it takes another four weeks  in  mail for  sending  the  child study and medical  reports  to  the sponsoring  agency abroad for being handed over to the  for- eigner for his approval and awaiting the receipt of approval and  then a further period of two months is allowed for  the court  to process the case and thereafter on an  average  it takes  another  month or more to get the passport  and  visa formalities  completed.  It thus takes about 8 to  9  months after the abandonment of the child before the child is  able to join its adoptive parents. 393 This is, according to the applicants, too long a period  and the directions given by us should be modified with a view to curtailing  this period. We agree that the point  raised  on behalf of the applicants deserves serious consideration.  We would therefore direct that in cases where a child is relin- quished  by  its biological parents or by  an  unwed  mother under  a Deed of Relinquishment executed by  the  biological parents or the unwed mother it should not be necessary to go through the Juvenile Court or the Social Welfare  Department of  the  Collector to obtain a release order  declaring  the child  free for adoption but it would be enough  to  produce the  Deed of Relinquishment before the court which  consider the  application for appointment of a foreigner as  guardian of the child. It is only where a child is found abandoned or is  picked  up as a destitute that the  procedure  of  going through the Juvenile Court or the Social Welfare  Department or the Collector would have to be adopted. As soon as  aban- doned  or  destitute  child is found by a  social  or  child welfare  agency, a report should be immediately lodged  with the  local  police station along with a  photograph  of  the child.  The Inspector General of Police or the  Commissioner of Police, as the case may be, should instruct every  police station within his jurisdiction to immediately undertake  an inquiry  for  the purpose of ascertaining  and  tracing  the parents of the child in respect of which the report is  made and  such inquiry must be completed within one month of  the report being lodged with the police station. Meanwhile,  the social or child welfare agency which has found the abandoned or  destitute child may make an application to the  Juvenile Court or to the Social Welfare Department or the  Collector, as  the case may be, for a release order declaring that  the child is legally free for adoption and since the report  the inquiry to be made by the police has under this direction to be completed within one month, it should be possible for the Juvenile  Court  or  the Social Welfare  Department  or  the Collector to make a release order declaring the child legal- ly free for adoption within a period of five weeks from  the date  of  making  the application. If, as a  result  of  the inquiry by the police the biological parents are traced, the Juvenile  Court  or  the Social Welfare  Department  or  the Collector,  as the case may be, will issue a notice  to  the biological parents and give them an opportunity to reconsid- er  their decision after explaining the implications of  the

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child  being declared legally free for adoption.  But,  this opportunity  shall be availed of by the  biological  parents within a period of one week and no more. This procedure will considerably reduce the time taken up in giving an  opportu- nity to the biological parents to reconsider their  decision as  also  in getting the child cleared for adoption  by  the Juvenile  Court  or  the Social Welfare  Department  or  the Collector.  Whilst  the application for a release  order  is pending  before  the Juvenile Court or  the  Social  Welfare Department or the Collector, the recognised placement agency which  has found the child or to which the child  is  trans- ferred  by  the social or child welfare agency  finding  the child,  may proceed to explore the possibility  of  offering the child in adoption and the child may be offered  simulta- neously to Indian parents as well as foreign 394 parents, subject to the clearance of the child for  adoption by  the Juvenile Court or the Social Welfare  Department  or the Collector; The recognised placement agency need not wait until the release order is made by the Juvenile Court or the Social Welfare ’Department or the Collector, before offering the  child  in  adoption, because otherwise  even  with  the reduced time limit which we have now provided, it would take at least six weeks before the child can be offered in  adop- tion.  This time-lag of six weeks can be eliminated  if  the child  is allowed to be offered in adoption even  while  the application for release order is pending and this would also eliminate the delay of about two months which would occur if the  child is not allowed to be offered in adoption  to  the foreign  parents  until after the effort to find  an  Indian parent  for the child has failed. If this procedure is  fol- lowed,  it should be possible to find an Indian  parent  or, failing that, a foreign parent to take the child in adoption within  a period, of about 6 to 8 weeks from the  time  when the abandoned or destitute child is formed by the  concerned social  or child welfare agency. We are informed  that  this procedure  is already being followed in Bombay and,  in  our view, it should be adopted in all jurisdictions.     We then turn to the third point raised on behalf of  the applicants and that relates to transfer of children from one State to another for the purpose of being given in adoption. We  have already dealt with this subject in paragraph  7  of the  supplemental judgment dated 27th September 1985 and  we do  not  propose to depart from what we have  said  in  that paragraph  of  the judgment. But we should like to  make  it dear that where an abandoned or destitute child is found  by a recognised placement agency or is brought to it by another social  or child welfare agency or individual, it should  be open  to  such recognised placement agency to  transfer  the child to its branch in another State after the completion of the inquiry by the Juvenile Court or Social Welfare  Depart- ment or the Collector, as the case may be. Where such recog- nised  placement  agency has an associate  social  or  child welfare  agency in another State, it should be open  to  the recognised  placement agency to transfer the child  to  such associate social or child welfare agency in the other State, provided firstly, that the inquiry is complete by the  Juve- nile Court or the Social Welfare Department or the Collector and  a release order is passed, and secondly, the  associate social  or  child welfare agency has been  notified  by  the recognised placement agency as its associate to the  Govern- ment  of the State where the recognised placement agency  is functioning as also to the Government of the State where the associate  social or child welfare agency is operating.  If, for  any  compelling reason, it becomes  necessary  for  the

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recognised  placement agency to transfer a child  either  to its  own branch or ’to an associate social or child  welfare agency  before  completion of the inquiry  by  the  Juvenile COurt or the Social Welfare Department or the Collector,  as the  case may be, the recognised placement agency  shall  be allowed to do so after obtaining permission of the Juvenile 395 Court  or the Social Welfare Department or the Collector  in that behalf.     We would also direct the Government of India to  publish at  least  once  in a year a list  of  recognised  placement agencies  and their associate social or child welfare  agen- cies  operating  in  each State in  two  leading  newspapers having  wide circulation in that State, one in  the  English language  and  the other in the regional  language  of  that State, so that the people may know which are the  recognised placement agencies and their associates which are  function- ing  in that State. We would also direct the  Government  of India  to send to the District Courts in each State  through the  High Court a list of the recognised placement  agencies functioning  within  the State together with the  names  and particulars  of  their  associate social  or  child  welfare agencies. Such list must be supplied to the District  Judges at least once in a year and whenever any charges or  modifi- cations are made in the list, such changes/or  modifications must  be intimated to the District Judges through  the  High Court.     One  other point raised on behalf of the applicants  was that  the outer limit of Rs.4,000 fixed by the Court in  the supplemental  judgment dated 27th September 1985  for  reim- bursement of expenses including legal expenses,  administra- tive  expenses, preparation of child study report,  prepara- tion of medical and I.Q. Reports, passport and visa expenses and conveyance expenses, was inadequate, particularly having regard  to the high fees charged by lawyers and increase  in the visa charges for United States and some other  countries and that this outer limit should, therefore, be raised  from Rs.4,000 to Rs.6,000. There is force in this submission made on behalf of the applicants, because there is no doubt  that the  fees  of lawyer have gone up quite high  and  the  visa expenses  have also more than doubled in recent  times.  We, therefore, agree that the recognised placement agency  proc- essing  the application of a foreigner for  being  appointed guardian  of a child with a view to its  eventual  adoption, should  be  entitled  to recover from  the  foreigner,  cost incurred in preparing and filing the application and  prose- cuting it in court including legal expenses,  administrative expenses, preparation of child study report, preparation  of medical  and  I.Q. reports, passport and visa  expenses  and conveyance  expenses and that such expenses may be fixed  by the court at a figure not exceeding  Rs.6000.     The  applicants also drew our attention to the  case  of foreigners  living  in  India  for one  or  more  years  and stressed the difficulty involved in requiring their cases to be sponsored by a foreign social or child welfare agency and the  homestudy report in their cases to be prepared by  such sponsoring  foreign  agency. This difficulty  is  a  genuine difficulty.  It would be quite impracticable to ask  a  for- eigner  living in India and wishing to take an Indian  child in  adoption  to obtain a home-study report from  an  agency base in his home country. It would 396 be impossible for any foreign social or child welfare agency to sponsor the case of such foreigner who is living in India and  it would equally be impossible for any such  social  or

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child  welfare  agency  to prepare a  home,study  report  in respect of such foreigner. We would, therefore, direct  that in case of a foreigner who has been living in India for  one year  or  more, the home-study report  and  other  connected documents  may be allowed to be prepared by  the  recognised placement agency which is processing the application of such foreigner  for  guardianship of a child with a view  to  its eventual  adoption and that in such a case the court  should not  insist on sponsoring of such foreigner by a  social  or child  welfare  agency based in the country  to  which  such foreigner belongs nor should a home-study report in  respect of  such foreigner be required to be obtained from any  such foreign  social  or  child welfare  agency.  The  home-study report and other connected documents prepared by the  recog- nised placement agency should be regarded as sufficient.     The last point raised on behalf of the applicants arises out of paragraph 12 of the supplemental judgment dated  27th September  1985.  We pointed out in that  paragraph  of  the supplemental judgment that ordinarily the court entertaining an application on behalf of a foreigner for being  appointed guardian  of  a child with a view to its  eventual  adoption should  not insist on making of deposit by the foreigner  as and  by way of security for due performance of  the  obliga- tions  undertaken  by him, but in an appropriate  case,  the court exceptionally pass an order requiring him to make such deposit.  We  observed that the execution of  a  bond  would ordinarily  be sufficient: and we made two alternative  sug- gestions which may be implemented in regard to the execution of such bond. We have considered this question once again in view  of the plea raised on behalf of the applicants and  we are  of the view that the court need not insist on  security or cash deposit or hank guarantee and it should be enough if a  bond is taken from the recognised placement agency  which is processing the application and such recognised  placement agency  may in its turn take a corresponding bond  from  the sponsoring  social  or child welfare agency in  the  foreign country. Ordinarily, the sponsoring social or child  welfare agency in the foreign country would honour the bond in  case the condition of the bond is broken, because, obviously:  if it  fails to do so, no recognised placement agency in  India would  in future deal with it and moreover the name of  such foreign social or child welfare agency would be liable to be deleted  from  the list of foreign social or  child  welfare agencies which are recognised as sponsoring agencies for the purpose of adoption.     These were the only points raised for our  consideration in  the  applications made on behalf of various  social  and child  welfare agencies. We have dealt with these points  in some detail and we hope and trust that the 397 clarifications given by us will go a long way towards reduc- ing  the delay in the procedure to be followed in  giving  a child  in adoption to a foreigner and will also at the  same time  protect  and safeguard the interest of  the  child  by preventing any possibility of abuse. M.L.A. 398