Kerala HC allows person to keep unwed mother alone in documents
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Kochi: The Kerala High Court ruled that children of unwed mothers and rape victims can live in this country with the fundamental rights of privacy, liberty, and dignity. It allowed a person to include his mother's name alone in the birth certificate, identity certificates and other documents, PTI reported.
The single bench of Justice P V Kunhikrishnan said in its July 19 order that a child of an unwed mother is also a citizen of this country, and nobody can infringe any of his/her fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
"The children of unwed mothers and the children of a 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 order read.
The petitioner, who is the son of an unwed mother, has got three of his documents with different names for father. The top court in the state directed the Registrar of Births and Deaths to erase the name of the father from the Birth Register in the case of the petitioner and issue a certificate showing the name of the mother only as a single parent if the petitioner requests.
The order read, "He/she is a son/daughter of not only the unwed mother but this great country India."
Further, the court said that the state must protect citizens of all kinds as equals without disclosing their identity and privacy. "Otherwise, they will face unimaginable mental agonies," the order said.
Justice Kunhikrishnan noted, "We want a society with no such characters like 'Karna', who curses his life because of the insult he faced for not knowing the whereabouts of his parents. We want the real brave 'Karna' who was the real hero and fighter in 'Mahabharata'. Our Constitution and the constitutional Courts will protect all of them, and the new age 'Karnas' can live like any other citizen with dignity and pride."
Further, the court directed the General Education Department, the Board of Higher Secondary Examinations, the UIDAI, the IT Department, the Passport Officer, the Election Commission of India and the State Election Commission to effect the expunge of the name of the father from their official records and databases.
