biological parents, do not pose great difficulty. In such cases, the first identity itself is born, only when the Court passes an order approving local or inter-country adoption. Since such adoptions are now well regulated by the earliest decision of the Supreme Court in Lakshmi Kant Pandey vs. Union of India [AIR 1984 SC 469] and the various guidelines issued by the Government of India, the Courts passing orders in terms of the provisions of the Guardians and Wards Act themselves issue appropriate directions to the Passport Office, to include the names of the adoptive parents in the passport issued to the child. But, as stated earlier, the children in such cases happen to be those abandoned by their biological parents. Therefore, there is no chance of any discrepancy between different types of certificates. But, cases such as the one on hand, pose a lot of difficulties, as I have pointed out earlier. While the Courts are certainly obliged to take care of the immediate interests of these children by giving certain directions to the Passport Office, the Courts cannot overlook the longterm needs and rights of these children. For instance, the right of a child to inherit the estate of its biological father, will get defeated by a direction to effect correction of entries in the statutory records.
