edited by: Pathikrit Sen Gupta
Last Update: February 18, 2023, 03:12 IST
The HC said the issue is a narrow one and can be resolved with the cooperation of all parties. (file photo)
The petition, filed by the Bharatiya Samaj Seva Kendra (BSSK) Pune through its executive director, states that the baby boy named Atlas was born to an Afghan couple on September 8, 2021 and was handed over to BSSK the next day. The organization said that since the girl was born in India, she is entitled to an Indian passport
A division bench of Bombay High Court comprising Justice GS Patel and Justice Neela Gokhale has issued notice to the Ministry of Home Affairs on a plea seeking issuance of passport to a one-year-old girl child of Afghan parents.
The notice was issued in a petition filed by Bharatiya Samaj Seva Kendra (BSSK) Pune through its Executive Director. It added that the baby boy, named Atlas, was born to an Afghan couple on September 8, 2021, and was handed over to BSSK the next day. The organization said that since the girl child was born in India, she is entitled to an Indian passport.
The Child Welfare Committee follows the procedure for declaring a child free/fit for adoption. The BSSK said that ‘Atlas’, the girl child, has not yet been declared free/fit for adoption and the process itself may be stalled in the absence of a citizenship document in her name.
The BSSK informed the court that it would be impossible for the adoptive parents from foreign countries to take the infant out of the country unless they have a travel document namely passport in their name along with a properly issued visa for the country of destination .
The court said, “This may be technically correct, but what is presented before us is an issue in anticipation of a future problem: the Atlas, even if declared ‘fit for adoption’, no The adoptive parents will not be admitted without a travel document. Section 8 of the Foreigners Act 1946 is invoked.
The bench also said that the issue is a narrow one and it can be resolved with the cooperation of all the parties.
“Since the legal issue appears to us to be narrow – and possibly not moot, which can possibly be resolved with some co-operation from all concerned – we request the assistance of Mr. Aditya Thakkar or any other advocate from the office of Addl.” Solicitor General of India The fourth respondent, on behalf of the Ministry of Home Affairs,” the HC said.
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