In a significant ruling, the Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition by a woman seeking to have only her name listed on her child’s birth record, citing it as an example of how estranged spouses can misuse legal proceedings to satisfy personal vendettas. The bench, comprising Justices Mangesh Patil and Y G Khobragade of the Aurangabad bench, criticized the petition for wasting the court’s time and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the petitioner.
The court’s decision came after a 38-year-old woman filed a petition requesting the Aurangabad municipal authorities to issue a birth certificate for her child that mentioned only her name, effectively excluding the father’s name. She argued that her estranged husband was unfit to be acknowledged as a parent due to his alleged vices and claimed he had never met the child.
However, the justices rejected the plea, stating, “Neither of the parents can exercise any right in respect of the child’s birth record.” The court emphasized that the request was not in the child’s best interest and pointed out that treating the child as if it were property over which rights could be claimed is inappropriate and detrimental to the child’s welfare.
“This demonstrates to what extent parents, embroiled in a matrimonial dispute, can go to satisfy their ego,” the court remarked in its March 28 order. The judgment underlined the importance of considering the welfare of the child paramount over the disputes and ego clashes between parents.
The bench also noted that the petition was a “sheer abuse of the process and waste of precious time of the court,” indicating a strong disapproval of using the legal system for personal grievances, especially when such actions could negatively impact the welfare of a child.
