The Anatomy of the Indian Court Process

As we wait to hear that we have been registered for court and when our first court date will be, I have been scouring the Patna court website to try to figure out as much as possible about how long adoption cases are taking and in hopes that I will see our case pop up.  Yes, you can follow the progress of your case online (usually).  The most important thing to understand about the court process in India is that each state is different and each case is unique depending on the judge, the backlog of other cases, the perception about international adoption, etc.  A handful of states require court attendance (Bihar, Jharkand, Hyderabad...are the ones that come to mind).  The court process is when the agency and CARA seem to have very little control and you are dealing with civil court in the place that has jurisdiction over your orphanage.  We spoke to a couple who adopted a child from Hyderabad a couple of weeks ago about their court experience.  They only had two weeks notice to get there.  The good thing for them is they only had one court hearing.  They basically had their son handed over to them at the start of the hearing and were from then on able to keep him, although they didn't know that going into the court hearing.   The biggest takeaway I got from speaking with them was that they really had to follow up on everything to get things done.  They got through the case and were able to bring their son home within about 4 weeks of arrival on the day after Christmas.

According to CARA guidelines, a court case should take no longer than two months and can be disposed of (term used to describe when a decision has been made by the judge usually in favor of the adoption) with only one hearing if it is in the best interest of the child.  So getting back to the Patna website, I looked over many of the cases on the disposed list.  They ranged from taking 2-6 months with between 4-13 hearings.  The longest case took 1 year and two months, though it only had 8 hearings.  To see some of the court cases and to follow our case when it appears, you go to http://ecourts.gov.in/patna and then on the right hand side of the site you click on Case Status then click on Act.  This will bring you to the database page where you search for Patna Sadar and the Juvenile Justice Act.  Here is an example of what a case info page looks like:

The thing that worries me is that it seems as though Patna court hearings are posted on Tuesday for hearings the following Monday which means we could have only one week's notice to get there.  We are planning just to head over there mid-July regardless.  I feel strongly that we need to be over there pleading our case and following up on things and plus we can start our life with Anjali.  It would be amazing if we could convince the judge to dispose of the case with only one hearing.  One can hope for the best, right?

Once a case is disposed, written orders are prepared and signed off by the judge.  They are sent to the orphanage who applies for the passport.  Once the passport is received (usually takes about 2 weeks) you must go to the U.S. embassy in Delhi to get a visa and medical exam and then you can bring your baby home!