Under Section 7 of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956, natural guardianship of an adopted…

Section 7 of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act passes an adopted minor son’s natural guardianship to the adoptive father and "after him" the adoptive mother. Birth parents cease to hold that role; the Act must be read with the welfare principle and the absence-based understanding of parental priority in Githa Hariharan (1999), rather than treating motherhood as invariably dependent on paternal death.