Child of unwed mom must name dad in passport An unwed mother has to reveal who the biological father of her child is, the passport authorities told the Bombay high court on Wednesday. The ministry of external affairs had clarified on November 1 that an unwed mother need not disclose the name her childs father. The contradiction was reflected in reply to a petition filed by four-year-old Lisa (name changed) through her mother who was working in a club and unmarried when she was born to include her stepfathers a name in her passport. The assistant regional passport officer (policy) on November 3 insisted that her biological fathers name must be mentioned. Her petition urged for direction to the officer to process her application by mentioning her stepfathers name and to issue her a passport. Advocates Nikhil Karnavat and Viraj Maniar told a division bench of Justices V M Kanade and Anuja Prabhudessai that this was a similar matter (like those heard recently by court) for getting a stepfathers name inserted in the passport. The judges told the Unions government advocate, Soma Singh, appearing for the MEA and regional passport authority, to take instructions from the MEA. But Singh volunteered, An unwed mother has to fill a form in which the biological fathers name has to be written. The petitioner wants the passport to be issued in her stepfathers name. She added, I will take instructions. The judges posted the next hearing after two weeks. Lisas petition said her mother Larisa Mathews (name changed) worked in the club to support her family. At the club, she came in contact with Suneel Thakkar (name changed), who lured her into a relationship by promising marriage. Lisa was born on November 19, 2010, but when Larisa insisted on marriage, Thakkar cut off contact. She subsequently learnt he was already married and had a child. So disassociated herself from him and took care of her child with her savings, and help from relatives and friends. Larisa later met Atul Sethia (name changed), who unconditionally accepted her and married her in November 2011. The couple had a son recently. The petitioner is being looked after with utmost love, care and affection, and is experiencing a family atmosphere staying with her stepfather, said the petition, adding that society at large had accepted Lisa as his daughter. Thakkar filed a plea in the family court seeking Lisas custody in January 2012 but the HC admitted Larisas plea challenging it and stayed access to him. Lisas plea said Thakkar never married her mother although his name was in hospital records and the birth certificate. It said disclosure of her biological fathers name in the passport would cause trauma and social stigma to the minor. In a related development, Disha Mhaiskar, 19, and Sania Akram, 21, (names changed) who moved court separately, received their passports on Wednesday with their stepfathers names included. They had to submit affidavits that they do not want their biological fathers names on the passports and request insertion of the stepfathers names. They also had to state that in the event of a court case, the onus will be on me and not on the passport-issuing authority. Slot for dads name can be blank: MEA MEA clarified a statement by another of the Union governments advocate, in a related passport case, that an unwed mother had to file an affidavit stating how she conceived, if she was raped and why she did not want the childs fathers name included. But following a TOI report, MEA clarified on November 1 that an unwed mother had to only produce the birth certificate and submit an affidavit declaring that she was the mother of the child passport applicant. Also, in the affidavit, the space for the fathers name and space seeking to know if the father/mother of the child had deserted her, could be left vacant.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 05:03:30 +0000
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