Unregistered Adoption Deed Invalid, Rules Allahabad High Court

Last Updated:October 13, 2025, 19:29 IST

The bench upheld the earlier decision of a single judge, which had restored custody to the child’s natural guardians.

The appeal challenged the single judge’s order passed on August 11, 2025, in a habeas corpus petition filed by the girl’s biological parents. (File pic)

The Allahabad High Court (HC) recently observed that adoptions in Uttar Pradesh carried out through unregistered deeds have no legal validity, reaffirming that registration is a mandatory requirement under state law since January 1, 1977.

A division bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Prashant Kumar dismissed a special appeal filed by Arun and another, who had sought custody of a minor girl, claiming to be her adoptive parents based on a notarised adoption deed.

The bench upheld the earlier decision of a single judge, which had restored custody to the child’s natural guardians.

The appeal challenged the single judge’s order passed on August 11, 2025, in a habeas corpus petition filed by the girl’s biological parents.

The appellants argued that the single judge had wrongly dismissed their claim on the technical ground that their adoption deed was not registered.

Their counsel referred to a 2014 Allahabad High Court decision in Sanjay Kumar vs State of U.P., to contend that even an unregistered adoption deed could be accepted with corroborative evidence under the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

However, the bench disagreed, holding that the legal position in Uttar Pradesh had been settled long ago through the U.P. Civil Laws (Reforms and Amendments) Act, 1976, which amended Section 16 of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA), 1956, and Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908.

Under these amendments, the court explained, no adoption made in Uttar Pradesh after January 1, 1977, can be recognised unless it is executed through a registered deed signed by both the giver and taker of the child.

“A conjoint reading of the amended Section 16(2) of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 and Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908, makes it clear that after January 1, 1977, any adoption in the State of U.P. can take place only by way of a registered deed and not otherwise," the bench observed.

The judges clarified that the proviso in Section 16(2), allowing for secondary evidence of a registered document, did not assist the appellants since their case was based on a notarised adoption deed and not a registered one.

“Secondary evidence presupposes the existence of primary evidence, which in this case never existed," the court noted.

Distinguishing the 2014 decision cited by the appellants, the bench pointed out that the earlier judgment dealt with compassionate appointment, where the petitioner had already been recognised as an adopted son through a succession certificate and receipt of post-retirement benefits. That situation, the court said, could not be equated with the present case where the validity of adoption itself was in dispute.

Emphasising the binding nature of statutory compliance, the court said there was “no exception" to the legal requirement of registration for adoption deeds in Uttar Pradesh. As the appellants had failed to produce a registered adoption deed, their claim to the child’s custody could not stand.

Accordingly, the special appeal was dismissed, and the order of the single judge, directing that the custody of the minor remain with her biological parents, was affirmed.

Salil Tiwari

Salil Tiwari, Senior Special Correspondent at Lawbeat, reports on the Allahabad High Court and courts in Uttar Pradesh, however, she also writes on important cases of national importance and public interests fr...Read More

Salil Tiwari, Senior Special Correspondent at Lawbeat, reports on the Allahabad High Court and courts in Uttar Pradesh, however, she also writes on important cases of national importance and public interests fr...

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