✏️ Sample Solved Problem (IRAC Method) — KSLU Family Law 1 Notes

✏️ Sample Solved Problem (IRAC Method)

Problem: ‘A’ adopts ‘B’, who has already been adopted by ‘C’. Is this second adoption by ‘A’ valid?

I — Issue

Whether ‘B’, having already been validly adopted by ‘C’, can lawfully be adopted a second time by ‘A’.

R — Rule

• Section 10(ii), Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 — one of the essential conditions for a valid adoption is that “the person to be adopted has not already been adopted”
• Section 12, HAMA 1956 — on a valid adoption, the adopted child is deemed to be the child of the adoptive parent for all purposes, with effect from the date of adoption, severing ties (subject to limited exceptions) with the family of birth

A — Analysis

‘B’s adoption by ‘C’ was complete and valid; from that moment, by operation of Section 12, ‘B’ became ‘C’s child for all legal purposes. Section 10(ii) then operates as an absolute bar — once a person has been adopted, the law simply does not permit a second adoption of that same person by anyone else, regardless of how well-intentioned the second adoptive parent is, and regardless of whether the first adoptive parent (‘C’) consents to the second adoption. Decoy: a student might reason that if ‘C’ consents, or if ‘A’ can offer the child a “better life,” the second adoption should be allowed — but Section 10(ii) draws a hard line that consent and good intentions cannot cross.

C — Conclusion

The adoption of ‘B’ by ‘A’ is void — it directly violates the absolute bar in Section 10(ii), HAMA 1956. ‘B’ remains, in law, the child of ‘C’, and ‘A’ acquires no parental rights over ‘B’ whatsoever.

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