SC Warns 30 States, UTs Of Contempt Case For Non-Compliance With Its Directions On Child Adoption

The CJI DY Chandrachud led bench was hearing a petition for easing the adoption procedures under Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).

The Supreme Court on Tuesday warned as many as 30 States and Union Territories (UTs) of initiating contempt of court proceeding for failure to comply with the top court's previous directions pertaining to the establishment of Specialised Adoption Agencies (SAAs) in each district by January 31, 2024. 

The CJI DY Chandrachud led bench was hearing a petition for easing the adoption procedures under Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).

CARA is a statutory body of the Ministry of Women & Child Development and functions as the nodal body for adoption of Indian children and is mandated to monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions.

The bench noted that out of 760 districts in the country, the total number of districts with functional SAAs is 390, with 370 districts having no SAAs.

The top court noted that out of 34 States and UTs, only 4 states and 1 UT were found fully compliant. Goa, Chandigarh, Karnataka, Kerala and Rajasthan have complied with the Supreme Court's direction to establish functional SAAs in each district.

The court noted that Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Punjab, Telangana, UP and Uttarakhand do not even have half the number of mandated functional SAAs.

In Uttar Pradesh for example out of 75 districts, 61 districts do not have functional SAAs.

The court said that the position of other states is also alarming.

In an order passed in November 2023, time was granted by the apex court to all States and UTs to set up SAAs in every district by 31st January 2024. 

The court found that even as five months has elapsed, several States and UTs are in default of court order and have not complied yet.

While recording prima facie breach of previous order, the top court had earlier also warned the States of coercive measures over non-compliance.

"We are now compelled to take coercive steps against the state government's where SAAs have not been established. We direct that the chief secretaries of all the states/UTs of Annexure E in compliance report shall file compliance affidavits on or before August 30, failing which they should be personally present in court to explain why they should not be prosecuted for contempt of court."

The bench listed the matter for further hearing in September.

The bench further noted that while the number of registration for adoptions have increased, the infrastructure which is due for the same needs to be upgraded.