IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.12934 of 2019
Prakash Kumar Son of Late Ishwar Dayal Singh Resident of At Amar
Chhataui, Motihari, P.S. Muffasil, District- East Champaran.
… … Petitioner/s
Versus
1. The State of Bihar through the Principal Secretary, Revenue and Land
Department, Government of Bihar, Patna.
2. The District Magistrate-cum-Chairman, District- Compassionate
Appointment Committee, East Champaran at Motihari.
… … Respondent/s
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Karandeep Kumar, Advocate
For the Respondent/s : Mr. Sajid Salim Khan (SC 25)
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ASHUTOSH KUMAR
ORAL JUDGMENT
Date : 03-07-2019
Heard the learned counsel for the parties.
2. The petitioner has challenged the order dated
04.04.2013 passed by the respondent no. 2 contained in
Memo No. 114 whereby the claim of the petitioner for
being appointed on compassionate ground has been
rejected.
3. It appears that the adoptive father of the
petitioner died on 18.11.2006 while serving as Peon in the
District Legal Cell, Motihari. Within five years of the death
of the adoptive father, the petitioner made an application
for being considered for compassionate appointment. The
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aforesaid application was filed after the petitioner attained
majority on 29.07.2011.
4. It has been urged on behalf of the petitioner
that his date of birth is 10.09.1991 and he was adopted
by the deceased employee and his wife viz. Girija Devi on
04.05.2003. However there is no document of such
adoption nor the petitioner has been able to bring on
record any evidence in support of the petitioner having
been adopted in the year 2003, when he was of the age
when any child could have been adopted under the Hindu
Adoption and SectionMaintenance Act, 1956. It has been urged by
the petitioner that in the year 2003, the petitioner was 12
years and 4 months of age. The registered deed of
adoption is dated 07.05.2009.
5. These aspects were gone into by the District
Compassionate Committee and it was found that at the
time of the deed of adoption being registered, the
petitioner was 18 years of age and therefore was not being
capable of adopted. The establishment committee also
Patna High Court CWJC No.12934 of 2019 dt.03-07-2019
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came to the conclusion that the factum of the petitioner
having been adopted in the year 2003 cannot be accepted
for the reason that there is no evidence with respect to
such adoption. Therefore, the only date which could be
considered by the committee was the date of registration
of such deed.
6. Looking into these aspects of the matter, the
establishment committee came to the conclusion that the
claim of the petitioner has been put up only for the
purposes of seeking appointment on compassionate
ground.
7. Hence the claim was rejected by the order
impugned.
8. Section 16 of the Hindu Adoption and
SectionMaintenance Act, 1956 deals with the presumption as to
registered documents relating to adoption. Whenever any
document registered under any law for the time being in
force is produced before any court as a record of adoption
made and is signed by the person giving and the person
Patna High Court CWJC No.12934 of 2019 dt.03-07-2019
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taking the child in adoption, it shall be presumed by the
court that the adoption has been made in compliance with
the provisions of the Act unless and until it is disproved. A
person could be adopted if he is given in adoption by a
person who is capable of giving his child in adoption and
the person adopting also has the capability to adopt.
9. Section 11 deals with conditions which would
be essential for a valid adoption. The proviso to Section 11
of the Act further describes that performance of any
religious ceremony would not be essential for the validity
of an adoption. However Section 12 of the Act which deals
with effects of adoption, enunciates that an adopted child
shall be deemed to be the child of his or her father or
mother for all purposes with effect from the date of
adoption and from such date all the ties of the child with
the family of his or her birth shall be deemed to be
severed and replaced by those created by the adoption in
the adoptive family.
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10. From a reading of the aforesaid Sections of
the Hindu Adoption and SectionMaintenance Act, 1956, there does
not appear to be any mandate with respect to the
reckonable date of adoption. A registered adoption deed
only raises a presumption in favour of the contention that
a particular person has been adopted. From what date the
adoption would be reckonable is not clear under the Act.
11. In the case in hand, the registered adoption
deed does not refer to any written arrangement or
agreement between the parties but statement of the
mother of the adoptive child/the petitioner that it was the
desire of her late husband/deceased employee to adopt the
petitioner and the petitioner was adopted in the year 2003
when he was slightly more than 12 years of age. The
registered deed of adoption further discloses that the
father of the adoptive child/the petitioner, unfortunately
died and therefore the deed could not be registered. The
registered deed does not contain the signature of the
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parents of the petitioner who had given him in adoption to
the deceased employee and his wife.
12. Under these circumstances, the registered
deed of adoption cannot be accepted to be an
unimpeachable document which could give rise to the
entitlement of the petitioner for being appointed on
compassionate ground.
13. The aforesaid exercise was done by this Court
in order to find out whether with such registered deed of
adoption, was it justified for the authorities to reject the
claim of the petitioner on the adoption being under doubt.
14. There is thus no reason why the order of the
District Compassionate Appointment Establishment
Committee be interfered with.
15. There is no merit in this petition and the
same is dismissed.
(Ashutosh Kumar, J)
krishna/-
AFR/NAFR NAFR
CAV DATE NA
Uploading Date 06.07.2019
Transmission Date