Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has come to the rescue of a couple facing legal hurdles in taking their adopted daughter to Australia despite the adoption being a valid one under Indian law. The couple, both now 44, adopted the third child of a relative under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act (HAMA) in April 2023. At that time the child was 45 days old, the wife was an Indian citizen while the husband had acquired Australian citizenship only two months earlier. The wife later became an Australian citizen.However, Australian authorities do not recognize the adoption as an “intercountry adoption”, stating that children adopted outside the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption are not automatically accepted. This meant that mother and child remained stranded in India for 3 years. On March 30, Bombay HC Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Abhay Mantri, disposing of a petition filed by the couple last year seeking judicial intervention, directed the couple to approach the district magistrate to get the adoption certified. The court invoked the 2022 rules governing adoption and directed that once the district magistrate issues the verification certificate in 30 days, the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) must issue its No Objection Certificate (NOC) within 15 days. The HC said CARA approval is important for inter-country adoption and would then be communicated to the immigration authorities of India and Australia. Children adopted overseas in circumstances outside the Hague Convention process do not automatically have their adoption recognized in Australia, Australian authorities informed the couple and pointed to specific Australian migration requirements relating to special visas and citizenship pathways for adopted children. The HC said: “It is clear that the (Australian) authorities require the appropriate authority in India to conduct the investigation and indicate its approval. That authority is CARA.” The mother wrote to CARA in August 2025, which was emailed to her by the Australian Ministry of Home Affairs. CARA, in turn, said that since the adoptive father was an Australian citizen with Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status, section 68 of the Adoption of Adoptions Regulations, 2022 (Rules Governing Inter-Country HAMA Adoptions) applies. A reply of CARA before the HC said it cannot regularize any aspect of a couple’s adoption unless they comply with the requirements under the 2022 rules for transferring a child adopted under HAMA to a foreign country. Senior advocate Anil Anturkar, appearing for the adoptive parents, said this was not a case of inter-country adoption and questioned the objections raised by CARA. He said Regulation 69 of the Adoption Regulations, which deals with HAMA adoptions, would apply to the couple. Australian authorities said it was a “migrant adoption”. The HC said, “There is no provision in the Juvenile Justice Act or the Adoption Regulations 2022, which define migrant adoption,” but noted that the adoption was legal under HAMA. The HC, after also hearing Centre’s counsel YR Mishra, said that in specific facts, the process under Section 69 would be initiated. “Regulation 69 sets out the procedure for adoption and considers the case of parties to an adoption already concluded under HAMA. This regulation should be read as applicable to the case,” the HC said, citing prior SC judgments. “Ideally the petitioners should have followed Regulation 68 (Procedure for Inter-Country Adoption),” the court said. But now the process cannot be reversed, the HC said, adding that it also has to consider “the future of the adopted child”. The HC judgment, made available late on Thursday, also said the mother had filed petitions twice before “in an ill-advised manner”, leading to nowhere. “If the child is not allowed to be taken to Australia due to technical reasons, the adoption will fail,” the HC said.Justice Ghuge, who wrote the judgment, noted the dedication of the adoptive parents. The HC said “the case proceeded through complex laws to ensure that the adopted child is blessed with the love and care of the adoptive parents”, noting “the sincerity and purity of the feelings of the adoptive parents”.