Adoption under Hindu law: Outbursting the myths about adoption in context of Hindu adoptions & maintenance act, 1956

Abstract

The relationship of a child and parents is beyond the definition of love and piousness. This unreal bond has always been a constant source of origination of rights, liabilities and co- dependency of the former towards the latter and vice versa. The concept of adoption in India is prevalent since antiquity and the depth goes stronger in case of Hindu Law, it being the only major personal law that permits adoption even before its codification. For the following article, the authors attempted to go through how the practice of adoption has changed over the years, what are the myths associated with this concept, how Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 has been able to setup equality between women and menin terms of their rights to adoption and how customs and practices are kept in harmony with the codified law. The authors have attempted to establish a link between the myths prevalent in our society on adoptions and simultaneously tried to outburst and explain them with the help of provisions of Act of 1955.