Adoption agencies: Supreme Court warns non-compliant states of contempt

The court said in its November 20, 2023 order, it had given time to states and UTs to complete the setting up of SAAs by January 31, 2024 and that by order dated March 15, 2024, it had granted them one more opportunity to comply.

The Union affidavit said only Chandigarh among UTs and Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan and Goa among states have fully complied with the direction and set up SAAs in all districts.

States like Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Punjab, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand do not have SAAs in even half of their districts, the court noted and termed the situation “alarming”.

“We are compelled to now take coercive proceedings against the state governments and UTs since despite repeated opportunities, the SAAs have not been set up in all the districts,” said the bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

“We accordingly direct the chief secretaries of all the states/UT’s as reflected in” the affidavit “shall file compliance affidavits on or before August 30, 2024, failing which they shall remain personally present before this court on September 2, 2024 to explain why they should not be proceeded against in exercise of the contempt jurisdiction,” the court ordered.

The court is hearing a plea for simplification of the adoption process in the country.