Everyone is a fan of Lord Krishna. Everybody knows that Devki Maa was Lord Krishna’s biological mother and he was raised by Maa Yashoda. Yashoda’s husband – Nand Baba knew about this fact. So, was there any paperwork for this adoption? Well, it was a necessity if Lord Krishna was born after 1956. How Come? Because that’s the requirement under the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956. Apart from legality of adoption, HAMA also lays the legal framework for maintenance among Hindus. Henec, it is all the way inevitable for law students to be familiar with the statute if preparing for Hindu laws. Here, we have summarised the important aspects of the same for you!
Salient Features of Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956
- The HAMA Act aims at codifying the law related to adoption and maintenance of Hindus.
- There are a total of 30 Sections encapsulated under 4 Chapters of the Act.
- Speaking of the structuralisation, the first Chapter is preliminary, the second one addresses law pertaining to adoption, third Chapter for maintenance and fourth one being for repeals and savings.
- Apart from covering Hindus, it also applies to Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists. About other lenses, it applies to any person domiciled in the territory of India.
- The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act specifies who may be given in adoption and who is eligible to adopt a child, who is eligible for getting maintenance.
Can a Muslim couple adopt? – Know here
Important Provisions of HAMA Act, 1956
- Section 7 of HAMA
When it comes to parenthood, people most likely hint that it is important for a woman, because men are the earning members and it is the women who become wholesome when they become mothers. Is fatherhood that negligible? There are men out there who want to cherish the feeling of becoming a father by adoption and for them, Section 7 of Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act illuminates the path. It lays about who being a male Hindu can adopt a child. In short, any male who is a person of sound mind and attained majority can adopt a son or a daughter. In case he is married, his wife’s consent is a must, unless she has renounced the world/ceased to be a Hindu/declared unsound mind by the Court.
- Section 8 of Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act
What would be your answer if someone asked you whether a Hindu female could adopt a child. Since a child usually gets his/her father’s name in India, what happens when there is no father in the picture? The answer lies with Section 8 of HAMA which imprints the capacity of a female Hindu for the purpose of taking in adoption. It clarifies that any Hindu woman who is not unsound and has attained the age of majority can adopt a son or a daughter. In case she is married, she needs her husband’s consent for the purpose of adoption. She can also evade the mandate of husband’s consent if he has renounced the world/ceased to be a Hindu/declared unsound mind by the Court.
- Section 9 of HAMA
While we have looked at who can adopt a child under HAMA, it is important to know who can give a child up for adoption. Section 9 of Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 clarifies that it is only the father, mother or legal guardian who can give a child for adoption. The rights of father and mother are equal in this regard and need each other’s consent .
- Section 11 of Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act
While it may seem that eligible adoptive parents and parents who can give in adoption are enough, Section 11 of HAMA lays other conditions for a valid adoption. It specifies the requirement of adoptive parents not having a Hindu son if adopting a boy, and no Hindu daughter if adopting a girl. The age gap for a male adopting a daughter has to be at least 21 years, and the vice versa for female adopting a son. Simultaneous adoptions of the same child are also restricted.
- Section 16 of HAMA
Since the law requires adoption to undergo legal process, there is an assumption under Section 16 of Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act that the papers so produced before the Court as to record an adoption, signed by givers and takers must be presumed to be compliant unless disproved.
- Section 19 of Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act
Since HAMA also addresses the aspect of maintenance apart from adoption, the subject here also includes a widowed daughter-in-law apart from children and others. HAMA Section 19 lays for maintenance of widowed daughter-in-law by the father-in-law. Such an obligation ceases on remarriage of such daughter-in-law.
- Section 23 of HAMA
While there is more discussion about who gets maintenance under HAMA, the question arises, how much? The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act Section 23 provides for the amount of maintenance, which is majorly left as the discretion of the Court. Determination of maintenance to wife/children/aged parents depends upon the position and status of parties, reasonable wants of claimant, the fact whether claimant is living separately and if justified in doing so, value of claimant’s property and if any income derived, number of persons entitled to maintenance. The factors affecting the amount of dependents are also mentioned under the provision.
