Supreme Court verdict on unwed mothers

The Supreme Court on 6th July 2015 passed a landmark judgement that allows an unwed mother to be the sole legal guardian of her child without the consent of the father. This judgement has broken a long edifice of patriarchal supremacy in the society.

Background

According to the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, father is the first natural guardian of a child then the mother. When the child is born to an unwed mother then also it was mandatory to disclose the name of the father as a guardian under this act. And if the mother want to be the guardian of her child it was mandatory for her to obtain either guardian certificate or consent from the father of the child. But the SC verdict has allowed the unwedded mother to restrain from disclosing the name as well as given the right to be a sole guardian of her child.

Case details

Initially the High Court had upheld its verdict to grant the sole guardianship to the unwedded mother over her child with the reasoning that a natural father could have an interest in the child even if there is no marriage.
But the Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Vikramjit Sen has now given a seminal ruling that recognises first the interests of the child as a supreme while granting guardianship to mother or not, and second the SC considered the woman’s fundamental right to privacy over disclose of the father’s identity.
In this case the mother has taken full responsibility over the child and the father possible a married man been unaware of the existence of this child.

Woman guardianship

• The new ruling not only gives single mothers a strong legal standing but also protects the rights of children born out of wedlock.
• This will have far-reaching implications for women right in the matter of guardianship in India.
• Official documentation like in Schools, Banks insisting father’s name will now have to make changes on their application forms.
• Recently the government has removed the mandatory provision of putting father name in Passport form.
• It is of special significance to children born to sex workers.
• It gives a boost to single women who want to adopt.

In case of illegitimate child the Guardianship Act names the mother as the first guardian but not in case of unwed mothers. This judgement will go a little further in safeguarding their rights.

Shortcomings of this Verdict

• This verdict will prevail over the right of a child to know about his roots and origin.
• The verdict will prevail over the right of a child to know about and have the affection of his father.
• It will subside over the father’s right to have knowledge and access to the child.
• The child’s right to know about the father has been acknowledged as a facet of the fundamental right to life and this verdict abridges it.