Patna: An adopted son is entitled to be considered for compassionate appointment if the adoption is bona fide and not fabricated to obtain the benefit, Patna high court (HC) ruled Tuesday.A single bench of Justice Kumar Manish, while allowing Vijay Kumar Sah’s writ application, directed North Bihar Power Distribution Company to consider Sah’s claim for compassionate appointment by treating him as the dependent of his maternal grandmother, Reshma Devi, who died in harness in 2007 while working as a messenger at one of the company’s supply division offices in Begusarai.When Sah was aged 13, Reshma Devi adopted him through a written adoption deed dated Feb 18, 1999, which was also notarised.Three years after Reshma died while still employed, Sah applied for compassionate appointment in 2010. The company, however, delayed the matter before rejecting his application on Dec 22, 2017, questioning his entitlement as an adopted son. The employer claimed that on the date the formal adoption deed was officially registered, Sah was aged over 15, the maximum age for adoption under Hindu law.Under Section 11 of Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, the vital ceremony or proof required is the intent and physical act of transferring the child from one family to another. HC ruled that adoption is established the moment this physical exchange happens, even if a formal, govt-registered adoption deed is signed years later.Justice Manish held that the power distribution company rejected Sah’s claim based on a rigid, hyper-technical interpretation of Hindu law. Because records showed Sah was given and accepted at age 13 — when an affidavit was signed — the adoption was already validly complete before he turned 15, the court noted.HC overruled the grounds on which the firm declined Sah compassionate appointment, noting that a legally adopted child holds the same rights as a biological child and administrative bodies cannot reject a claim by using a delayed adoption registration date as an excuse.
