Mumbai HC Quashes Order Denying Divorced Working Woman To Adopt A Child

The Mumbai High Court on Tuesday noted that refusing a divorced woman to adopt a child on the grounds that she is working and hence would not be able to attend to the child’s needs reflects a "mindset of mediaeval conservative concepts."

Earlier, the civil court had stated that a single working woman wouldn’t be able to give personal attention to the child.

Divorced Working Woman Can Adopt

The High Court stated this while hearing the plea made by a 47-year-old woman who wishes to adopt her 4-year-old niece. Justice Gauri Godse said that a single parent is bound to be a working person.

The petition was filed by Shbnamjahan Ansari, a teacher who challenged the March 2022 order of the civil court in Bhusawal that rejected her application to adopt a minor girl on the grounds that she was divorced and a working woman. Ansari wanted to adopt her sister’s daughter, but the civil court had held that the child might be with her biological parents.

In her petition, Ansari said that the lower court’s order was "unjust and perverse." The High Court noted that the reason given by the lower court for rejecting the adoption application was "unfounded, baseless, illegal, perverse, and unacceptable."

Judge Godse observed that the comparison done by the civil court between the biological mother, who is a housewife, and the prospective adoptive mother, who is a divorced working woman, reflects a mindset of the mediaeval conservative concepts of a family.

The court also noted that, generally, a single parent is bound to be a working person, with rare exceptions. Thus, single parents cannot be held ineligible to adopt a child based on the grounds that she or he is a working professional.

Despite all statutorily required compliances for adoption being present, the lower court rejected the adoption application solely on the basis that the adoptive parent is a divorced working woman.

The Mumbai High Court quashed the lower court’s order and permitted Ansari to adopt the four-year-old girl child. The bench declared Ansari to be the child’s parent.

Further, the court instructed the Bhusawal Municipality Council to modify the child’s birth certificate and include Ansari’s name as the parent.

Suggested Reading: Adoption and Parenthood: Families Come In All Forms