Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 1956

Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 1956

Subject – Governance

Context – The Women and Child Development Ministry will bridge the legislative gap between the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA) and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 that has forced adoptive parents under HAMA to move court to take their child abroad.

Concept –

• The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA) was established in the year 1956 as part of the Hindu Code Bills.
• Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act was introduced to codify and standardize the current Hindu legal tradition.
• Applicability –
  • Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act apply to Hindus and all those considered under the umbrella term of Hindus.
  • To apply the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act in the territories, the person should not belongs to Muslim, Christian, Parsi, or Jew by religion.
• Under HAMA, any male Hindu who is of sound mind and not a minor can take a son or a daughter in adoption. If he has a wife living, he cannot adopt a child except with the consent of his wife unless the wife has completely renounced the world or has ceased to be a Hindu or has been declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be of unsound mind.

(HAMA – Hindu Adoption And Maintenance

CARA – Central Adoption Resource Authority, apex controlling body in a matter relating to adoption in India under the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) for legal adoption, under Juvenile Justice Act 2015).