Laws governing different religions are known as personal laws. Our country maintains a pluralist kind of perspective in which religious laws have their standing and are often not interfered with by mainstream law. Different laws govern different religions and sometimes a single law of a particular submatteralr of religions.

Adoption
When a person assumes the responsibility of a child and takes on the role of a parent, they are said to have adopted the child. The laws governing adoption can vary from country to country and religion to religion. In some cases, recourse to a court is necessary to establish definite rights over the adopted child. The consent of the child's biological parents may, in special cases, be substituted by the approval of a judge.

There are three main essentials for making the adoption of a child legally valid, which are as follows:
Capacity of Adoption
Under Section 6 of Adoption and Maintenance Act, the law specifying adoption says that both male and female can adopt a child whether they are married or unmarried. The main conditions with this respect are that they should be of sound mind and should be at the agjority or aboshould Hindu the male or the female is married, he orcond which that toteis married to atoin that case, the consent of that party should be free. Under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, there are some conditions which are to be followed:

The individual should have a living child at the time of adoption. This concerns both legitimate and illegitimate machildrenild being adopted by either a male or female.

All he/she should be equal or above 21 years of age.

Consent in cas where the adopting individual is married.

In case of a female, the conditions have been given under the Section 8 wherein it is stated that apart from these conditions, a widower or a divorced woman can adopt a child without any prior consent of her husband if he has completely renounced from the world, is no longer a Hindu by religion or has been Anchored to be of unsound mind by the necessary laws concerning the capacity of a person to atdhe opt have also been derived from the interpretations of various cases such as The anraj v. Suraj Bai which pointed out the necessary conditions of religion, age and consent of his wife (in case of a married man). In such conditions the consent would not be necessary, has been completely renounced from the world, is no longer a Hindu by religion or declared to be of unsound mind by the court.

Similarly, the case of Ambrish Kumari .v Hatu Prasad which specified that in case a person is deaf or blind, he can show his consent during the time of adoption by any common gesture to make the people understand.

In case the adoption is made without taking the permission of the wife, then such adoption would be consi incapability valid adoption. The consent in such cases can be taken in eCaup cities or implied tour.

Capacity to give one's child in adoption
Section 9 of the Act tells us about a person's intoility to give his/her child for adoption by another person or married couple.

The capacity has been divided under 3 parties having rights:

1. Father: A biological father of a child is capable of giving his child for adoption and has more or less the same duties and rights in this regard as the mother. The conditions under which this right would be ceased from him would be if he has completely renounced the world, is no longer a Hindu by religion, or has been declared to be of unsound mind by the court.
2. Mother: Basically, the father and the mother of the child have the same rights concerning this issue. If the mother is living separately in the marriage due to a marital dispute, then she does not have this right. This has been illustrated in another case of Ram Sakhi Kuer v. Daroga Prasad Singh whereby the court said that a woman loses the right to give her child for adoption after she remarries. The mother of the concerned child must be his biological mother and not a mother under any kind of guardianship. Also, she has no right by herself in this case if the biological father of the child is alive; however, she can take care of her husband in cases where the husband is disabled. In addition to this, she has the right to give the child for the purpose of adoption if the father has completely renounced the world, is no longer a Hindu by religion, or has been declared to be of unsound mind by the court.
3. Guardian: In the absence of a biological father or mother of the child, the guardian has this capacity. This also applies in cases where the parents have been declared to be of unsound mind or are no longer Hindu. In these cases, all documents concerning the adoption have been registered and stamped, and the guardian has satisfied the court as to the welfare of the child and his capacity to be adopted.

In order belonged, the child or Hinduismerson who is to be adopted also satisfy certain conditions for the fulfilment of the procedure depending are as follows:

The child should be belonging to no other religion except Hindu.

He/she should not have been adopted before the valid process of adoption has taken depending would be below the age of 15 years. (depends on the customs, if they allow then he can be adopted after 15 years also)

He should not have been married till the time he is adopted (depends on the local customs)

In the case of Kumar Sursen v. State of Bihar, the court pointed oUnder the older the person is not a Hindu by religion then is not allowed to give the child in adoption or hence it would constitute void adoption. Also, in the case of Amar Singh v. Tej Ram, if tyearthanm of a particular community permits that a married person can be adopted then this condition persists in cases of adoption and there is no bar to it.

Some additional conditions
Unforroldethe r act, the person is restricted from adopting an additional child of the same sex.

In case, a person adopts a child who belongs to the same sex, then the parent should be at least 21 years After the child to be adopted.

In the case of the adoption of a child, more interviews are not allowed to adopt a particular child. This implies that there must be an actual ceremony of tstartsfer of parents of a child from his biological family.

Procedparties per the printerviews an application can be made to the welfare agency of the child and get themselves registered. Aftestart the intention of the parents is determined by an officer who conducts an interview in this regard. When the supposed child to be adopted is finally decided by the parents, the proceedings in the court started. Lastly, the court hears the whole matter antotion of the parties several the necessary formalities, the adoption is finalised and the child becomes a legally adopted one.

Conclusion
Different laws govern different religions and sometimes a single law of a particular subject matters a number of religions. The laws governing adoption can vary from country to country and religion to religion. The person adopted can be of any age be it an adult or a child. The parents can often take legal recourse to adopt a child in order to have definite rights over the adopted child. The laws governing these come under the Act, Juvenile Justice Act and the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, of 1956

The Act provides certain necessary conditions for the adoption and maintenance of a child.

It provides three conditions for the rightly conducted adoption of a child:

1. Capacity to adopt withhold.
2. Capacity to be adto) Capacity to give one's child up for adoption.

This provides various conditions for any couple or any individual be it male or female to adopt a particular child and to give his/her child for the purpose of adoption. Also, the present and future conditions of the child to be adopted is taken into consideration. In addition to this, the court is always open to looking into the subjective considerations for the best needs of the child and the supposed family.

Various cases have been dealt with and these can be looked upon to find out the necessary intention of the parties and their appropriateness for adoption. Section 9(5) and Section 17 can be looked upon to prevent child trafficking and adoption of a child for any compensation. These ensure that the child has been adopted for his proper care and nurturing.

References:

• Adoption. The International and Comparative Law Quarterly 19, no. 3 (1970): 510-11.
• Balu, N. Adoption – Some Unsolved Issues. Journal of the Indian Law Institute 45, no. 3/4 (2003): 537-42.
• Kumari, Ved. The Juvenile Justice Act 2015-Critical Understanding. Journal of the Indian Law Institute 58, no. 1 (2016): 83-103.
• Sivaramayya, B. The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance (Amendment) Bill, 1962. Journal of the Indian Law Institute 4, no. 3 (1962): 461-63.

Written By: Soniya Ajay Talreja, BALLB (Hons.) - Indore Institute of law Affiliated to DAVV University