Relief to teen after HC rejects father’s plea for DNA test

One-liner: In a relief to a teenager, the Bombay HC rejected his father’s petition seeking that he be made to undergo a DNA test to prove paternity, and observed that children have the right not to have the legitimacy of their birth questioned frivolously in courts of law.

Trying to avoid liability: The Nagpur bench of the HC noted that the father, who is gainfully employed, was trying to avoid his liability to pay the maintenance to the unfortunate child by asking him to undergo a DNA test.

• The petitioner working with Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) in Chandrapur had married a woman from the same company in 2006 and their son was born on April 27, 2007

Marital dispute: However, he left his wife after some years due to a marital dispute. The woman had approached the petitioner for ₹5,000 in maintenance, which he refused alleging that the boy was not his biological son.

Request for DNA test: The petitioner challenged the 2021 order of the Chandrapur district court, which had quashed the JMFC’s order directing the boy to undergo a DNA test at the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory in Nagpur. The petitioner then approached the HC seeking a DNA test of the boy.

• While hearing the case, Justice Sanap observed that children have the right not to have the legitimacy of their births questioned frivolously in courts of law

Suspecting wife's character: Simply saying that the applicant (boy) is not his son will not be sufficient. In his cross-examination, he denied the suggestion that after the birth of the boy, he suspected his wife’s character, the court said.

Avoiding maintenance: The father, who is gainfully employed, is trying to avoid his liability to pay the maintenance to the unfortunate child. In order to deny the right to get maintenance, he has been asking the son to undergo the DNA test, the court observed.

Petition dismissed: The order directing the DNA test in such matters must be need-based and has to be passed in an exceptional case, it said while dismissing the petition.