Orphans
In 2021, the Temple of Healing filed a Writ Petition before the Supreme Court of India, arguing that the process of adopting an orphan in India is needlessly slow and complicated. The filings and the Court's response are public below.
2021
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1003/2021, The Temple of Healing v. Union of India: the petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution before the Supreme Court of India, seeking to simplify the process of adopting orphans.
View document2021
Supporting documents filed alongside the Supreme Court petition, laying out the case for simplifying adoption procedures for orphans in India.
View document26 August 2022
The Supreme Court's record of proceedings from the hearing before Justices D.Y. Chandrachud, A.S. Bopanna, and J.B. Pardiwala, noting deficiencies in the adoption process and directing the Ministry of Women & Child Development to meet with the petitioner on the ground.
View document2022
A concept note prepared after the 26 August 2022 hearing, outlining how India's adoption statutes (including the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956) could be simplified for orphans, drafted as an agenda paper for discussion with stakeholders.
View documentIndia's adoption procedures are governed by several overlapping statutes, including the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956. The petition asks the government to reconcile these into a single, faster process, so that orphans are not held in limbo by paperwork.