The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has ruled that suspicion of adultery alone is not enough to justify compelling a minor child to undergo a DNA test to establish paternity. The court emphasized that such genetic tests can be ordered only in exceptional circumstances and must take into account the best interests of the child.
Justice R.M. Joshi, in an order dated July 1 and made public on Wednesday, quashed a 2020 ruling of a family court that had directed a 12-year-old boy to undergo DNA profiling at the behest of his mother’s estranged husband.
“A question arises as to whether this is an eminent case for passing the order of DNA test. The candid answer to the same would be an emphatic no,” Justice Joshi observed. He added that even if adultery is alleged, it can be proven through other forms of evidence without involving the child in a paternity test.
The petition was filed by the woman and her son, who challenged the earlier order that required the boy to undergo a genetic test to determine if the man—who had filed for divorce on grounds of adultery—was his biological father. The couple had married in 2011 and separated in January 2013, when the woman was three months pregnant.
Crucially, the High Court noted that although the man alleged his wife’s “adulterous” behaviour in divorce proceedings, he had not denied paternity of the child.
“It was absolutely obligatory for the family court to consider the best interest of the child,” the High Court said, invoking the Supreme Court’s precedent that no one can be forced to undergo a blood test, particularly a minor who cannot consent or understand its implications.
“When parents are at loggerheads, the child often becomes a pawn. In such situations, courts must act as custodians of the child’s rights,” the order stated.
