Docus should allow both parents’ names: HC

Docus should allow both parents’ names: HC

Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com

Chennai:07.09.2021

Remarking that it would be appropriate if columns are provided to include names of either or both parents of a child applying for official documents, the Madras high court has issued notice to the Union and state governments on a PIL. The petitioner also wanted the court to direct the government to permit single parents to include their name alone in such documents.

When the plea came up for hearing on Monday, the first bench of chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesavalu said: “It may be more appropriate if the column or columns in the printed forms permit either or both (parents) as per the wishes of the applicant.” It then adjourned the hearing to November 1.

The petitioner, B Ramkumar Adityan, said children should be able to use the names of either their mother or father. Citing the steady and sizable increase in the number of single-parent adoptions in the past 30 years, he said challenges for single parent adoption had greatly reduced. Many factors may have encouraged this drift. “One such factor can be the growing acceptance of one parent families due to divorce or separation and unmarried single women raising a child on their own. Other factors such as increasing literacy and financial independence of women may have also fairly contributed in making single parent adoption popular,” he said.

But still several public and private institutions and almost all documents in all departments such as affidavits, deeds, oaths, schools, banks, mutual funds, insurance companies, licences, registrations, permits, identity cards, orders, records, legal documents, official documents, court documents and applications of any nature continue to issue forms that require the father’s name alone and require the father to sign off as the guardian, he said.

It would be appropriate if columns are provided to include names of either or both parents of a child applying for official documents, the Madras high court observed and issued notice to the Union and state governments on a PIL