Supreme Court Limits DNA Paternity Tests on Children in Matrimonial Disputes

• •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.