‘Marriage certificate not required for adopting a child’

The Allahabad High Court last week pronounce that a marriage certificate is not mandatory for adopting a child. According to the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act of 1956, even a single parent can adopt a child. The court made the remark on hearing the writ petition filed by transgender Rina Kinnar and her spouse.

According to the petition, Rina was born in 1983, and they got married on December 16, 2000, at the Mahabeer Mandir in Ardali Bazar, Varanasi. The petitioners sought to adopt a child but were informed they needed to provide a marriage certificate, which they did not have. The Bench comprising of Justice Vivek Varma and Justice Dr Kaushal Jayendra Thaker made this observation while hearing a case filed by a transgender woman and her spouse who asked the Sub Registrar, Hindu Marriage, District Varanasi to evaluate and decide on their online marriage application.