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Section 63: Effect of adoption

Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

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Act 2015
Section 62 All 112 Sections of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 Section 64

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 63

Section 63 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 defines the profound legal consequence of an adoption order, creating an irrevocable, complete severance from the biological family and conferring full status as a natural-born legitimate child of the adoptive family.

  • Statutory Powers & Jurisdiction: The section declares that a child in respect of whom an adoption order is issued by the competent authority shall become the child of the adoptive parents.
  • Core Legal Standard: The adoptive parents shall become the parents of the child as if the child had been born to the adoptive parents, for all purposes, including intestacy, inheritance, and succession.

Section 63 establishes the profound legal effect of adoption, creating an irrevocable bond that confers full status and inheritance rights as a biological child.

Simultaneously, from the date of the adoption order, all ties of the child with the biological birth family or previous legal guardians stand completely severed, replaced entirely by the ties created by the adoption order in the adoptive family. Any property that vested in the child prior to adoption remains vested, subject to lawful property obligations.

Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Basavarajappa v. Gurubasamma, (2005) 12 SCC 290: The Supreme Court held that a valid adoption completely severs all ties with the natural family and vests the child with the full legal status of a legitimate child born in the adoptive family, including absolute rights of succession.
  • Sitabai v. Ramchandra, (1969) 2 SCC 544: The Supreme Court confirmed that the legal fiction created by adoption equates an adopted child in all respects to a natural born child, conferring identical civil and inheritance entitlements.
Legal Commentary:

Section 63 establishes the legal permanence and sanctity of adoption under Indian law. Once an adoption order is signed, it cannot be revoked at the whim of the adoptive parents or claimed back by biological parents. The child acquires an absolute, indefeasible legal identity within the new family, protecting them from future abandonment.

Section 62 All 112 Sections of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 Section 64