Woman has right to be identified in biological mother’s name: HC

Woman has right to be identified in biological mother’s name: HC

 Abhinav.Garg@timesofindia.com 28.09.2024

New Delhi : It is a fundamental right to have one’s identity linked to the biological parent, Delhi High Court has said, allowing a woman to replace her stepmother’s name with that of her biological mother in official records. “This is not just a legal battle, but a personal one—a daughter’s fight to be rightfully recognised as the child of her biological mother, and to finally set the record straight, which has been changed by her biological father after his re -marriage,” 

Justice Swaran Kanta Sharma observed recently. Shweta had sought to link her identity with her biological mother. She said her stepmother’s name was recorded while filling the registration details for Class X CBSE examination, primarily because she, at the said point of time, was living with her biological father and stepmother under an arrangement made between her biological parents after their divorce, when she was a child. 

When she approached CBSE to have her biological mother’s name in official records, especially the Class X certificate, the board cited existing byelaws to argue that amendments are not permitted to a candidate’s parental names once the form has been filled. “It can be understood as to how strongly she feels that her identity should be joined and be reflected even on the pieces of paper, which are so valuable in the Indian context, for her career and future courses, that her name will be reflected, known and identified with the name of the woman, who brought her to this world,” 

HC acknowledged. The court said a “rigid application of the regulations in such a unique and personal circumstance would result in unfair denial of justice to her, which may seem trivial to some, however, may mean the world to a daughter seeking to be recognised by the name of her biological mother”. Calling Shweta’s request for the correction “both reasonable and just”, the court directed CBSE to do it within a month