NEW DELHI -- In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court has said that an unwed mother in India can become the sole legal guardian of a child without the consent of the father.
The bench led by Justice Vikramjit Sen overrides existing Indian laws which require a woman to take a man's permission before applying for guardianship.
Ranjana Kumari, a women's rights activist and director of the Delhi-based Centre for Social Research think tank, described it as a "progressive stand."
The plaintiff, a government official, approached the Supreme Court in 2011 after a trial court and the Delhi High Court ruled that she needed to disclose the father's name to get his consent while filing a guardianship petition.
The plaintiff had asked the courts for permission to apply for becoming the child's guardian without informing the father, who, she argued, had stayed with her for two months and did not know the child exists.
Following this Supreme Court decision, an unwed mother is no longer required to disclose the father's name.
Former Additional Solicitor General Sidharth Luthra had argued that the father has a right to know about his child, and a child has the right to experience a father's love.
“Even though an unwed mother does have a right to not disclose the parentage of a child to the world, the said right cannot prevail over the right of a child to know about his roots and origin," Luthra told the court, The Indian Express reported.
Source :Huffingtonpost
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