In Hindu Law in the celebrated decision of this Court reported in Lakshman Singh Kothari (supra), thel has been succinctly stated in paragraph 10 which reads as under:
“10. The law may be briefly stated thus: Under the Hindu law, whether among the regenerate caste or among Sudras, there cannot be a valid adoption unless the adoptive boy is transferred from one family to another and that can be done only by the ceremony of giving and taking. The object of the corporeal giving and receiving in adoption is obviously to secure due publicity. To achieve this object it is essential to have a formal ceremony. No particular form is prescribed for the ceremony, but the law requires that the natural parent shall hand over the adoptive boy and the adoptive parent shall receive him. The nature of the ceremony may vary depending upon the circumstances of each case. But a ceremony there shall be, and giving and taking shall be part of it. The exigencies of the situation arising out of diverse circumstances necessitated the introduction of the doctrine of delegation; and, therefore, the parents, after exercising their volition to give and take the boy in adoption, may both or either of them delegate the physical act of handing over the boy or receiving him, as the case may be, to a third party.”
Supreme Court of India
Mst.Param Pal Singh Tr.Father vs M/S National Insurance Co.& Anr. on 14 December, 2012
Bench: T.S. Thakur, Fakkir Mohamed Kalifulla
