The Allahabad High Court has held that courts cannot direct a DNA test to determine the paternity of a child as a matter of routine simply because one party denies parentage. Such directions, the court said, are permissible only in narrowly defined circumstances where there is clear material showing that no possibility of cohabitation existed during the relevant period.
Justice Chawan Prakash made the observation while dismissing a petition filed by Ramraj Patel, who had questioned the paternity of a female child born to his wife in December 2012. Patel claimed the child could not be his biological daughter since his wife had been residing at her parental home since May 2011.
The petitioner had challenged an order of the Additional Sessions Judge, Varanasi, which had affirmed the Special Chief Judicial Magistrate’s refusal to order a DNA test. Both courts had found no legal basis to direct such an intrusive procedure.
Patel argued that he married the woman in April 2008, and she lived in the matrimonial home for only one week. He also alleged that she avoided living with him because she was educated and employed as a teacher in an Inter College, whereas he was an “illiterate villager.”
In its order dated November 21, the High Court said that directions for DNA testing in paternity disputes are not automatic and require strict scrutiny. The court underscored that such tests can be ordered only when “no chance for cohabitation” during the conception period is clearly established.
Since Patel could not demonstrate such circumstances, the High Court refused to interfere with the lower courts’ decisions.
The plea was accordingly dismissed.
