ISSUE:
Is permission of the co-widow of a late Hindu male necessarily required for adoption?
Does a Sapinda need to give permission to the widow to adopt when the wish of the husband is not known?
What is the scope for a legal adoption when there’s more than one widow?
RULE:
Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956-
Section 7- Capacity of a male Hindu to take in adoption
Explanation- “If a person has more than one wife living at the time of adoption, the consent of all the wives is necessary unless the consent of any one of them is unnecessary for any of the reasons specified in the preceding proviso.”
Section 8- Capacity of a female Hindu to take in adoption
Section 12- Effects of adoption: “…from such date all the ties of the child in the family of his or her birth shall be deemed to be severed and replaced by those created by the adoption in the adoptive family”
Section 14(2)- “Where an adoption has been made with the consent of more than one wife, the senior-most in marriage among them shall be deemed to be the adoptive mother and the others to be step-mothers.”