Under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, the person who is taken in adoption

Section 10(i) of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 provides that the person taken in adoption "Must be a Hindu within the meaning of the Act"; Hindu has the extended meaning under section 2, covering Buddhists, Jainas and Sikhs. Section 6(iii) separately requires that the person adopted be capable of being taken in adoption.