The Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the ministry of external affairs (MEA) to file an affidavit stating its stand on issuing passport to children born to unwed mothers.
A division bench of justices VM Kanade and Anjua Prabhudessai issued the directive after hearing a petition filed by a Goregaon resident whose four-year-old child’s passport application was not being processed as she had not disclosed the name of the biological father of the child, which was born out of a relationship with her friend.
What is the passport authority's stand?
The passport authority informed the court that rules require that for child born to an unwed mother to get passport, the name of his/her biological father should be stated on the application.
What does the woman's petition say?
As per the petition, the woman has said her parents and a sister completely depended on her. After failing to find a proper job, circumstances had compelled her to work as a bar dancer. While working in a club, she came in contact with a customer, who purportedly lured her into a physical relationship after promising to marry her. The girl was born out of that relationship in November 2010.
She has also said that later on when her 'friend' kept trying to avoid her, she inquired and found out that he was already married. She subsequently married another person. However, as she wasn't married when her daughter was born, the girl’s birth certificate and other relevant records has the name of her 'friend' as her husband and the father of the girl.
After she applied for passport for her daughter, passport authorities insisted that the name of the biological father must be mentioned in the application, and refused to accept the name of her husband as the father of the girl.
'Disclosure could cause trauma to child'
She therefore approached the court stating that passport authorities insisting that the name of the girl's biological father be mentioned on the application form was arbitrary and illegal. Such a disclosure could cause the growing up girl trauma and she may have to live with the social stigma, she contended.
The court will next hear the petition after two weeks.
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