Central 

Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is a statutory body of Ministry of Women & Child

Development, Government of India. 

Eligibility criteria for prospective adoptive parents:

1. The prospective adoptive parents shall be physically, mentally and emotionally stable, financially capable and shall not have
any life threatening medical condition.

2. Any prospective adoptive parents, irrespective of his marital status and whether or not he has biological son or daughter, can
adopt a child subject to following, namely:-

1. the consent of both the spouses for the adoption shall be required, in case of a married couple;

2. a single female can adopt a child of any gender;

3. a single male shall not be eligible to adopt a girl child;

b. No child shall be given in adoption to a couple unless they have at least two years of stable marital relationship.

c. The age of prospective adoptive parents, as on the date of registration, shall be counted for deciding the eligibility and the
eligibility of prospective adoptive parents to apply for children of different age groups shall be as under:-

Age of the child Maximum composite age of Maximum age of

prospective adoptive parents single prospective
(couple) adoptive parent

 Upto 4 years  90 years  

45 years

Above 4 and upto 8  100 years 50 years

years

Above 8 and upto 110 years 55 years

18 years

d. In case of couple, the composite age of the prospective adoptive parents shall be counted.

e. The minimum age difference between the child and either of the prospective adoptive parents shall not be less than twenty-
five years.

f. The age criteria for prospective adoptive parents shall not be applicable in case of relative adoptions and adoption by step-
parent.

g. Couples with three or more children shall not be considered for adoption except in case of special need children as defined in
sub-regulation (21) of regulation 2, hard to place children as mentioned in regulation 50 and in case of relative adoption and
adoption by step-parent.

Important Cases:

1.Guardianship and Wards Act,1894

Laxmikant Pandey Vs UOI- But in the year 1984, the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in a
landmark case of Laxmikant Pandey Vs. Union of India laid down few principles governing
the rules for Inter-Country adoption. ... It also insisted the age within which a child should be
adopted in case of Inter-Country adoption.

Shabnam Hashmi VS UOI

The Supreme Court has decreed that prospective parents irrespective of their religious
background are free to adopt children after the prescribed procedure. The court in it's order said
that 'personal beliefs and faiths, though must be honoured, cannot dictate the operation of the
provisions of an enabling statute. In this notable judgment, the Supreme Court of India declared
that the right to adopt a child by a person as per the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act would
prevail over all personal laws and religious codes in the country. The 3 judge bench consisting of
Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Shiv Kirti Singh however maintained
that personal laws would continue to govern any person who chooses to submit himself until such
time that the vision of a uniform civil code is achieved. The petitioner, Ms. Shabnam Hashmi had
moved this court back in 2005 after she was told that she had only guardianship rights over a
young girl she had brought home from an adoption home. Being a Muslim, she was subject to the
Muslim Shariat Law which did not recognise an adopted child to be on par with a biological child.
In her plea, Ms. Hashmi wanted the right to adopt and the right to be adopted to be recognised as
Fundamental Rights. The bench however rejected the plea by stating that the sphere of practices
and beliefs in the country reflected a conflicting thought process amongst the people. The Honble
Court also stated that adoption was a matter of personal choice and there was no compulsion on
any person to adopt or adopt child. The Juvenile Justice Act, 2002 defines adoption in Section
 
2(aa). It confers upon the adoptive parents and the child all rights, privileges and responsibilities
that are attached to a normal parent child relationship. With this declaration, prospective parents,
irrespective of their religious background would be free to access the provisions of the Juvenile
Justice Act a secular act, for adoption of children after following the procedure prescribed.

The JJ Act, 2000, however did not define 'adoption' and it is only by the amendment of
2006 that the meaning thereof came to be expressed in the following terms:
“2(aa)-“adoption” means the process through which the adopted child is permanently
separated from his biological parents and become the legitimate child of .