Right To Not Mention Name Of The Father Upheld By Kerala HC

The Kerala High Court, on July 19, upheld a child's right to have only the mother's name in official documents. The Court handed down the order in a writ petition preferred by the minor and his mother. 

FACTS

The child was conceived by the mother while she was a minor under mysterious circumstance by an unidentified person. Therefore the father's name of the minor happened to be recorded differently in different documents. The name of the mother of the child was correctly recorded in all identification and education certificates. Three different father's names were recorded in the minor's documents such as birth certificate, school leaving certificates, Aadhar card, PAN card and passport. Since the paternal name of the minor appeared differently in different documents and the name was uncertain, the petitioner did not want the father's name to be recorded in any of the documents and certificates. The petitioner wrote to several public authorities to delete her father's name from all documents and issue them afresh.

As per law laid down in ABC v. State (NCT of Delhi) [2015 (10) SCC 1], the petitioner claimed that the respondent no.1 was bound to expunge the name of the father from the Birth Register and based on which the other respondents are also bound to correct the records in tune with the same.

CONTENTIONS

Advocate KV Sohan appeared on behalf of the petitioners and submitted that the petitioners were entitled to the relief on the basis of various apex court decisions in the past. He submitted that the petitioner no. 1 was an unfortunate youngster who had to go behind the respondents to make corrections in his identity certificates with the name of a single parent even though the same is declared by the Apex Court.

The counsels for the respondents submitted that they will act according to the directions of the Court.

DECISION

The Court referred to Section 15 of Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 and observed that, "if it is proved to the satisfaction of the Registrar that any entry of a birth or death in any register kept by him under this Act is erroneous in form or substance or has been fraudulently or improperly made, he may, subject to such rules as may be made by the State Government with respect to the conditions on which and the circumstances in which such entries may be corrected or cancelled, correct the error or cancel the entry by suitable entry in the margin, without any alteration of the original entry, and shall sign the marginal entry and add thereto the date of the correction or cancellation." 

The Court further referred to The Kerala Registration of Births and Deaths Rules, 1999, which provided for procedure of correction or cancellation of entries of birth and death.

The Court relied upon Shalu Nigam and Another v. Regional Passport Officer and Another [2016 KHC 3587] wherein the Delhi High Court observed that, ""9. ..In situations such this, where the father has not exhibited any concern for his offspring, giving him legal recognition would be an exercise in futility. In today's society, where women are increasingly choosing to raise their children alone, we see no purpose in imposing an unwilling and unconcerned father on an otherwise viable family nucleus. It seems to us that a man who has chosen to forsake his duties and responsibilities is not a necessary constituent for the well being of the child.." 

After considering various decisions of the courts on the issue, Justice PV Kunhikrishnan noted that, "it is clear that it is the right of a person to include his mother's name alone in the birth certificate, identity certificates and other documents."

The Court further observed that, "...there are children of rape victims and children of unwed mothers in this country. Their right of privacy, dignity and liberty cannot be curtailed by any authority. The mental agony of such person is to be imagined by every citizen of this country while intruding into their privacy. In some cases it will be a deliberate act and in other cases it may be by mistake. But the State should protect citizens of all such kind as equal to other citizens without disclosing their identity and privacy. Otherwise, they will face unimaginable mental agonies."

The Court referred to the Mahabharatha and said that, "The mental agony faced by a person, who does not know their parents is picturised by the character of “Karna” in the ancient epic “Maharabharatha”. “Karna" was not aware of his parents till his mother "Kunthi Devi" told him about the truth. The mental agony and insult faced by "Karna" is picturised way back in the ancient time itself by "Vedavyasa" in "Mahabharatha".

"We want a society with no such characters like "Karna," who curses his life because of the insult he faced for not knowing the whereabouts of his parents. We want the real brave "Karnas' who was the real hero and fighter in "Mahabharatha". Our Constitution and the constitutional Courts will protect all of them and the new age “Karnas” can live like any other citizen with dignity and pride," the Court observed.

The Court allowed the petition and directed the respondents to complete necessary modifications in the documents of the minor.

Advocate VK Sunil, appeared for the respondent no. 1. The Assistant Solicitor General of India Advocate S Manu appeared for respondent no. 6. Advocate Joseph appeared for respondent no. 5 and Advocate Deepu Lal Mohan appeared for the 7th respondent.