Kerala High Court recognises right to include mother's name alone in birth certificate and other documents

In a landmark ruling, the Kerala High Court has held that every person has the right to include his/her mother's name alone in their birth certificate and other documents [XXX & Anr. v Registrar of Births and Deaths & Ors.]..Justice PV Kunhikrishnan held that this right is owed to citizens as the State has a duty to protect all citizens, even those who may have been conceived out of wedlock or out of rape, and their right to privacy, dignity and liberty are protected."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. As I observed earlier, 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 judgment stated..The Court referred to the trials and tribulations that children of unwed mothers endure and stated that such children should also be protected by the State especially in light of the right to reproductive choice being recognised as a fundamental right under Article 21, failing which, constitutional courts will step in. "A child of an unwed mother is also a citizen of our country, and nobody can infringe any of his/her fundamental rights, which are guaranteed in our Constitution. He/she is a son/daughter of not only the unwed mother but this great country 'India'," the Court said. While the word 'bastard' may continue in dictionary, there should be no example for anybody to use that word against anyone, the judge said."We need to live in a country where there will be no example to cite for the word "bastard" and let that word continue in the dictionary pages without getting an opportunity to give examples to the young student generation of English. The children of unwed mothers and the children of raped victim can also live in this country with the fundamental rights of privacy, liberty, and dignity. None can intrude into their personal life, and if it happens, the constitutional Court of this country will protect their fundamental rights. The Apex Court has held that a woman's reproductive choice is a fundamental right and compassed the same under Article 21 of the Constitution of India," the Court said in its judgment..A child of an unwed mother is also a citizen of our country, and nobody can infringe any of his/her fundamental rights.Justice PV Kunhikrishnan .To expand on the mental agony faced by persons who might not know the identity of their parents, Justice Kunhikrishanan referred to the tale of Karna from the Mahabharatha. Karna was not aware of his parents until his mother, Kunthi Devi told him the truth.The judgment quotes from Karnashapadham from the attakadha (story) Kathakali, written by Mali Madhavan Nair which showcases the mental agony and insult faced by Karna ..The Court was considering a plea to expunge the petitioner's father's name from the birth register maintained by the respondent Registrar of Births and Deaths and to be issued with a fresh certificate showing only the mother's name as a single parent.The mother of the petitioner was only a minor when she was impregnated under mysterious circumstances by an unidentified person.Due to this, the name of the unknown father was recorded differently in three of the identification documents of the petitioner, but the mother's name was accurate in all of it. .The Court referred to the provisions of the the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 and the Kerala Registration of Births and Deaths Rules, 1999, especially the Sections which empower the Registrar of Births and Deaths to make any corrections in documents.A letter issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs was also cited, in which it directed all Chief Registrars of Births and Deaths to follow the directions of the Supreme Court that in case of single/unwed mother, birth certificates may be issued on her producing an affidavit, and without insisting on the identity of the father.The Court further referred to the Kerala High Court's judgment in a plea moved by a single parent/unwed mother who was getting conceived by Assisted Reproductive Technology. In that case, the Court had directed the government to bring out a separate form, which does not contain a field requiring the name and other details of the father..Create separate forms without father's details for birth/death certificates of persons born to single/unwed mothers via ART: Kerala High Court.In the light of the above, the Court allowed the plea and ordered that the father's name be expunged from the petitioner's birth certificate and that a new one be issued without the name of the father within a period of two weeks."There will be a direction to the 1st respondent to expunge and remove the name of the father from the Birth Register maintained at his office regarding the 1st petitioner and issue certificate showing the name of mother only as a single parent, if such a request is made by the petitioners", the judgment stated..Advocate KV Sohan appeared for the petitioner.The respondents were represented by advocates VK Sunil, Jose Joseph and Deepu Lal, Assistant Solicitor General of India S Manu, and Senior Government Pleader Deepa Narayanan..[Read Judgment]