The Supreme Court on Tuesday (January 28, 2025) held that DNA tests cannot be used as a tool by children to embark on a roving enquiry into their paternity. A child’s legitimate interest to know her biological parent must be balanced by the potential father’s right to protect his privacy and dignity.
A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan highlighted that a DNA test should be ordered by courts after “balancing the interests” of both the child and the potential parent and concluding that there was an ‘eminent need’ for one.
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Usually in cases concerning legitimacy, it is the child’s dignity and privacy that have to be protected, as they primarily come under the line of fire. However, Justice Kant, who authored the judgment, noted that the effects of social stigma surrounding an illegitimate child also make their way into the parents’ lives owing to undue scrutiny about the alleged infidelity.
“Privacy also connotes a right to be left alone… A person can exercise his right to privacy in order to protect his right to dignity and vice-versa. Together, these rights protect an individual’s ability to make the most intimate decisions regarding his life, including sexual activity whether inside or outside the confines of marriage,” Justice Kant explained.
Forcefully undergoing a DNA test would subject an individual’s private life to scrutiny from the outside world. That scrutiny, particularly when concerning matters of infidelity, could be harsh and eviscerate a person’s reputation and standing in society. It could irreversibly affect a person’s social and professional life, along with his or her mental health.
“On account of this, he has the right to undertake certain actions to protect his dignity and privacy, including refusing to undergo a DNA test,” the court reasoned.
Justice Kant noted how DNA tests could be potentially used to ruin the reputation, status and dignity of married women, by casting aspersions on their fidelity.
“One can only imagine the repercussions in other cases where a child, in utter disregard to the sentiments and self-respect of its mother, initiates proceedings seeking a declaration of paternity… The conferment of such a right can lead to its potential misuse against vulnerable women. They would be put to trial in a court of law and the court of public opinion, causing them significant mental distress, among other issues. It is in this sphere that their right to dignity and privacy deserve special consideration,” Justice Kant noted.
The judgment was based on an appeal by a Kerala-based man who was conceived during a valid marriage. His mother later separated from the husband and accused another man of being his father.
The mother-son duo’s earlier pleas for maintenance and DNA tests were dismissed by courts on the ground that the presumption was always in favour of legitimacy of a child if the birth had occurred during a valid marriage. The only exception to the rule would be if access to marital relations between the couple had been “impossible”.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court confirmed the appellant was the legitimate son of his mother’s former husband.
Published - January 28, 2025 10:50 pm IST