JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, INDIA VOL. 21, 2022 not be further neglected by the society.18 The States while formulating policies to provide a safe roof over an abandoned child must ensure that agencies purporting to be working for social service or upliftment of children shall not be aiding child trafficking. It is the foremost duty of the State to work for the welfare of the child and all possible efforts should be made by the State Governments to explore the possibility of adoption under the supervision of the designated agency. Later, a trend towards more openness in adoption is seen with the increase in international, interracial and special needs adoption, and a rising number of stepparent, single parent, and gay-lesbian adoptive families can be seen.19 The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015, is aimed to achieve some of these objectives by establishing provisions ensuring gender neutral and secular way of adoption. Even this secular character is criticised by All India Muslim Personal Law Board in Shabnam Hashmi v Union of India,20 by arguing that the Act provides for adoption of child in need of care and protection and it explicitly recognises foster care sponsorship. It was further contented that Islamic Law does not recognise an adopted child to be at par with a biological child and under “Kafala” system, the child is placed under a ‘Kafil’, who only provides for the well-being of the child including financial support and the child remains the true descendant of his biological parents and not that of the “adoptive” parents. It is also recognised by the United Nations Convention on Child Rights and, therefore, a direction should be issued to all the Child Welfare Committees to keep following the principles of Islamic Law before declaring a Muslim child available for adoption under Section 41(5) of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000. It shows that adoption is a religious act of parents and continues to be so even if a legislation has come. 1.3 Inter-country Adoption: A More Progressive Way to Rehabilitate a Child The concept of inter-country adoption was new till the beginning of 21st century. In the absence of a specific law to regulate adoption, the decisions in respective cases were usually made on the basis of precedents set by the Supreme Court with the help of provisions laid down in Indian Constitution and the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890. The usual practice was to appoint non-Hindus and foreigners as the guardians only of children under the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890. In the garb of existing ambiguities and fallacies in domestic 18 19 20 76 Appeal (civil) 6492 of 2005 decide on 2 Sarkar 24 October 2005, The Hindu Law of Adoption, General Books, 185 (2013) (2005)8 SCC 525 Appeal (civil) 6494 24 October 2005, by the Supreme Court, bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice Arun Kumar. Sir W.H. Rattigan, The Hindu Law of Adoption, Oxford University Press 1873 Writ Petition (Civil) No. 470 of 2005