MUMBAI: Dismissing a wife’s plea to record only her name as a single parent in her child’s birth certificate, the Bombay high court said her petition “demonstrates to what extent the parents embroiled in a matrimonial dispute can go to satisfy their ego.”
“Neither parent can exercise any right in respect of the child’s birth record,” the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court said in a recent order.
“It is quite evident that the petitioner, to satisfy her ego, is not bothered about the interest of the child. The child has not even been made a party…In all such matters, the welfare of the child is of paramount consideration.,” observed Justices Mangesh Patil and Y G Khobragade on March 28.
The woman did not dispute that her husband was the father. But she sought directions from the HC to the Municipal Corporation of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to issue their child’s birth certificate with only her name as the parent.
‘“One wonders as to how a mother, for whatever reason, could wish to mask its (child’s) paternity,” the HC order asked.
Her reason, her lawyer argued, was that her husband never saw the child and was “addicted to vices.” His behaviour, she claimed, entitled her to be named as a single parent in the child’s birth record.
“The issue, in our considered view, is quite serious,” the HC said. The woman, “in spite of being the biological mother, cannot insist” on only her name as the parent, said the HC.
“The relief being claimed clearly demonstrates that she can go to the extent of treating her child as if it were a property in respect of which she can claim some rights, ignoring the interest and welfare of the child… The very request of the petitioner to record her name as a single parent in the birth record undermines the child’s interest,” the HC said.
Distinguishing the cases cited to argue her plea, the HC said in them the woman before the Supreme Court was an unwed mother. There, the SC had to ensure that the child’s right to know the identity of his father was not undermined, compromised, or jeopardised, and had impressed on the woman to disclose the name of the father in a sealed envelope to be read only after specific directions of the top court. The HC said the SC order thus clearly underscores the right of a child to how he wishes to be known by society.
The woman’s petition is “a sheer abuse” of the legal process and a “precious waste” of court time, said the HC, dismissing it with Rs 5000 costs to be deposited in court in two weeks.