SC directs CARA to consider German couple's plea for adoption

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Central Adoption Resource Agency CARA to consider as a onetime measure the plea of a German couple for adoption of twins born through a surrogate Indian mother A bench of Justices GS Singhvi and Asok Kumar Ganguly granted four weeks to the agency to explore the possibility to help the German couple John Balaz and his wife on humanitarian grounds The apex court passed the direction after the couple told the Bench that they were willing to go for an intercountry adoption as surrogacy is a punishable offence in their country The court had earlier on February 25 asked the CARA of Union Women and Child Welfare Ministry to consider grant of adoption rights as a special case to the German couple The court had passed the direction after the counsel for the union government told the bench that under the existing rules the German couple cannot be granted adoption rights as such a privilege is available only if the children are abandoned by the biological parents In the present case the government said the children were born through a surrogate mother and there was no provision under the law for intercountry adoption for children It however offered to examine the plea for adoption of the German couple as a special case provided it was not treated as a precedentThe court in its earlier direction had asked the government to examine the offer of the German couple to go for adoption of the kids as surrogacy is a punishable offence in Germany which was not willing to grant the surrogate children any citizenship or visa The Centre had earlier rejected the couples plea for grant of citizenship to the children on the ground that the statute does not provide citizenship rights to kids born of a surrogate woman The German couple had sought Indian citizenship for the children born in February 2008 through surrogate mother Martha Immanual Khristy on the plea that the twins otherwise would not be allowed entry into Germany which does not recognise surrogacy The couple claim that once the twins are accorded Indian citizenship they would be entitled to passports thus facilitating their entry into Germany After the passport authorities turned down their plea the couple moved the Gujarat High Court The High Court had on November 11 directed the Centre to grant citizenship by taking the view that since the twins were born to a surrogate Indian mother they were entitled to the countrys citizenship Aggrieved the Centre filed an appeal in the apex court The Centre had taken the stand that under the Citizenship Act 1955 since the commissioning parents were a German couple the two children cannot be treated as Indian citizens and hence there was no question of granting them passports