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In Aparna Ajinkya Firodia v. Ajinkya Arun Firodia, decided on 20 February 2023, the Supreme Court held that a DNA test on a minor child in a matrimonial dispute may be ordered only in exceptional and deserving cases where it is indispensable to resolving the dispute.
The bench of Justices V. Ramasubramanian and B.V. Nagarathna set aside orders of the Family Court at Pune and the Bombay High Court that had allowed a husband's plea for a paternity test on the couple's second child.
The Court held that children have a right not to have their legitimacy questioned frivolously before a court, and treated this as an essential attribute of the right to privacy.
The ruling works with the presumption of legitimacy, then in Section 112 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, which can be displaced only by proof that the spouses had no access to each other when the child could have been conceived.
The Court also cautioned against mechanically drawing an adverse inference against a party who refuses a court-directed DNA test.
The presumption of legitimacy. A child born during the continuance of a valid marriage, or within 280 days of its dissolution with the mother remaining unmarried, is treated as the legitimate child of the husband. The presumption can be displaced only by showing that the spouses had no access to each other at any time when the child could have been conceived; mere suspicion of adultery is not enough.
Allows a court to presume facts from the ordinary course of events. The Court cautioned against applying it mechanically, so that a refusal to undergo a court-directed DNA test is not automatically converted into an adverse inference against the party refusing.
The right to life and personal liberty, into which the right to privacy was read by the nine-judge bench in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017). The judgment locates a child's interest in not having his legitimacy publicly doubted within this right.
Invoked for the child's right to preserve his identity, and for the principle that the best interests of the child guide decisions affecting him.
Goutam Kundu v. State of West Bengal: the Supreme Court refuses a husband's plea for a blood-group test of his wife and child, holding that such tests cannot be ordered as a matter of routine and that the presumption of legitimacy is displaced only by strong evidence.
Sharda v. Dharmpal: the Court holds that a matrimonial court has the power to direct a medical examination of a party, while recognising that such tests intrude deeply on privacy and personal liberty under Article 21.
Bhabani Prasad Jena v. Convenor Secretary, Orissa State Commission for Women: the Court lays down the test of eminent need, asking whether the truth can be reached at all without the test before one is directed.
Nandlal Wasudeo Badwaik v. Lata Nandlal Badwaik: where conclusive proof envisaged in law conflicts with proof based on scientific advancement accepted by the community as correct, the Court holds that the scientific proof must prevail.
Aparna Ajinkya Firodia v. Ajinkya Arun Firodia: DNA testing of a minor child in a matrimonial dispute is confined to exceptional and deserving cases where it is indispensable, and the child's interest in not having his legitimacy questioned frivolously is recognised as part of the right to privacy.
GS Paper II > Indian Polity: fundamental rights, judicial pronouncements; GS Paper IV adjacent themes of rights of the child
General Awareness > Indian Polity and Constitution; landmark Supreme Court judgments
Consider the following statements: 1. The Election Commission of India is a five-member body. 2. Union Ministry of Home Affairs decides the election schedule for the conduct of both general elections and bye-elections. 3. Election Commission resolves the disputes relating to splits/mergers of recognised political parties. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer: 3 only
The rule that a child born during a valid marriage is treated in law as the husband's legitimate child unless non-access between the spouses is proved
Absence of any opportunity for the spouses to have marital relations during the period when the child could have been conceived; the only ground on which the presumption of legitimacy can be displaced
The standard laid down in Bhabani Prasad Jena (2010): a DNA test is directed only if the court cannot otherwise reach the truth
The standard drawn from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, requiring the child's welfare to be the primary consideration in decisions affecting him
A presumption a court may draw against a party who withholds evidence; the judgment warns against applying it automatically to a refusal to undergo a DNA test