Unwed mothers filing for child custody need not name father: SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday said courts must not insist on the name of the father, especially in cases where the father does not acknowledge his paternity or share the burden of raising a child, and directed a guardianship court to decide an unwed Christian mother’s application to be her son’s guardian without notice to the natural father.

A two-judge bench, comprising Justices Vikramjit Sen and Abhay Manohar Sapre, ruled that it is not imperative for an unwed mother to notify the father of the child to be appointed as the guardian. "The views of an uninvolved father are not essential, in our opinion, to protect the interests of a child born out of wedlock and being raised solely by his/her mother," the court said.

It also asked municipal authorities to issue a birth certificate to the child of the petitioner, whose identity has not been revealed, without insisting on the father’s name. Hindu women can under the law be guardians to their children without naming the father, but Christian women had been denied this right so far. The child does not have a birth certificate, the court said, even as the law waives the requirement of a father’s name during admissions to schools and passports.

The petitioner insisted that revealing the name of the father, a married man, would create problems for him. But the guardianship court rejected her plea to appoint her the guardian of her child so that he could be made a nominee in her bank accounts and insurance policies.