Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, July 24: The Kerala High Court in a landmark decision said that every person has the right to have only his or her mother’s name appear on their birth certificate and other papers.
The State has a responsibility to safeguard all citizens, even those who may have been born out of wedlock or as a result of rape, and their right to privacy, dignity, and liberty is guaranteed, according to Justice PV Kunhikrishnan.
“It is clear that it is the right of a person to include his mother’s name alone in the birth certificate, identity certificates and other documents. As I observed earlier, there are children of rape victims and children of unwed mothers in this country. Their right to privacy, dignity and liberty cannot be curtailed by any authority,” the judgment stated.
The Court discussed the struggles and hardships that children of unmarried mothers face and ruled that these kids should also be protected by the State, especially in light of the fact that Article 21 recognises the right to reproductive freedom as a fundamental freedom without which constitutional courts will intervene.
The judge stated that although the word “bastard” may remain in the dictionary, there should not be a precedent for someone to use such a slur against another person.
“A child of an unwed mother is also a citizen of our country, and nobody can infringe any of his/her fundamental rights, which are guaranteed in our Constitution. He/she is a son/daughter of not only the unwed mother but this great country ‘India’,” the Court said.
