Context: The Supreme Court has recently held that the Hindu adoption is not valid unless the man takes prior consent from his wife and there is a “ceremony of giving and taking in adoption”.
About Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act:

• The Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act (HAMA) was established in the year 1956 as part of the Hindu Code Bills.
• This act extends to the whole of India except Jammu & Kashmir and applies to Hindus domiciled in our country.
• Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act was introduced to codify and standardize the current Hindu legal tradition.
• This act dealt specifically with the legal process of adopting children by a Hindu adult, and with the legal obligations of a Hindu to provide maintenance to various family members.

Applicability of Act

• This act applies to any person who is domiciled in the territories
• A person who is a Hindu by religion in any of its forms or development, including the Virashaiva, a Lingayat or a follower of the Brahmo, Prarthana or Arya Samaj
• A person belongs to a Buddhist, Jain or Sikh can adopt a child
• A child legitimate or illegitimate whose parents are Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs
• A child legitimate or illegitimate one of whose parents are Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs and has been so brought up
• An abandoned child, legitimate or illegitimate of unknown parentage brought up as a Hindu, Buddhist, etc.; and
• A person who has been converted to the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh religion.

Who can Adopt a Child?

• The person should be a Hindu.
• The person has not been married, unless there is a custom or usage applicable to the parties which permit persons who are married being taken in adoption.
• He or she has not already been adopted.
• He or she has not completed the age of fifteen years, unless there is a custom or usage applicable to the parties which permit persons who have completed the age of fifteen years being taken in adoption
• Men who are unmarried can adopt as well as long as they are not a minor. However, if a man were to adopt a daughter, the man must be twenty one years of age or older.
• Only unmarried Hindu women can legally adopt a child. 
• A married woman can only give her consent to adoption by her husband. A married woman whose husband adopts a child is to be considered the mother.
• If the child is adopted and there are more than one wife living in the household, then the senior wife is classified as the legal mother of the adopted child.

When Mother’s Consent not Necessary?

• If the father is alive, he alone has the right to give the child in adoption, but he must do so with the consent of the child’s mother, unless:
• The mother has completely and finally renounced the world, or
• Has ceased to be a Hindu, or
• Has been declared to be of unsound mind by a court of competent jurisdiction