Not Allowing Divorced Working Woman To Adopt Is A Reflection Of Medieval Mindset: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has set aside a civil court order that refused a divorced woman the right to adopt a child and said that the order reflected a "mindset of medieval conservative concepts".

The HC order came in a case filed by a 47-year-old divorced working woman, challenging the ruling by the district court in Bhusawal, which refused her permission to adopt her four-year-old niece.

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Working woman can't adopt because...

The petition was jointly moved by the woman, her sister and her husband seeking permission for the 47-year-old to adopt the couple's daughter.

But the civil court at Bhusawal in Jalgaon district of Maharashtra rejected the plea in March 2022 rejecting on the ground that she was a divorcee and a working woman.

The court had in its order said since the applicant was a working woman and a divorcee, she would not be able to give personal attention to the child and that the child ought to be with her biological parents.

The woman, who works as a school teacher challenged the civil court order in HC.

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Law allows single parent to adopt: HC

The woman in her petition to the high court said such observation by the lower court was perverse and unjust.

On Tuesday a single bench of Justice Gauri Godse in the order said a single parent is bound to be a working person.

A single parent cannot be held ineligible to be an adoptive parent on the ground that he or she is a working person, it said.

"Generally, a single parent is bound to be a working person, maybe with some rare exceptions. Thus, by no stretch of the imagination, a single parent can be held ineligible to be an adoptive parent on the ground that he or she is a working person," the high court said.

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Can't compare between working women/housewife

The court took strong exception to the comparison between a working woman and a housewife.

¡°The comparison done by the Competent Court between the biological mother being a housewife and the prospective adoptive mother (single parent) being a working lady reflects a mindset of the medieval conservative concepts of a family. When the statute recognises a single parent to be eligible for being an adoptive parent, the approach of the Competent Court defeats the very object of the statute.¡±

The bench said when the law recognises a single parent eligible to be an adoptive parent, the approach of the lower court defeats the very object of the statute.

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