MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday struck down an order passed by a civil court in Nashik, which ordered DNA tests to ascertain the paternity of a 19-year-old claiming one-fifth share in a local hotelier’s estate as his illegitimate child.
The court said that DNA tests can be ordered only when the trial court finds it impossible to arrive at a definite conclusion and decide the controversy put forth before it.
The court was hearing a plea filed by the late hotelier’s widow and their three children, challenging the order passed by a Joint Civil Judge, Senior Division, Nashik.
He also filed a plea seeking a DNA test to ascertain his paternity and establish his claim that the hotelier was his biological father. This plea was allowed by the Nashik civil court, prompting the late hotelier’s family to approach the high court. The bench observed that the law on DNA tests for ascertaining paternity is well-settled, and such orders cannot be passed routinely. Courts must first consider existing evidence to assess the presumption of legitimacy, and consider ordering a DNA test only if the evidence on record is insufficient to reach a definite finding, and no harm is apprehended to the parties concerned.
In 2016, the 19-year-old filed a special civil suit for partition of the hotelier’s estate, seeking a one-fifth share. A single judge bench of justice Sandeep Marne allowed the family’s petition on Tuesday, striking down the civil court order.
The Nashik court had directed the regional forensic science laboratory to conduct DNA tests on samples from the 19-year-old and one of the late hotelier’s three children and submit the report to the court. This was after the 19-year-old approached the court, claiming he was the late hotelier’s illegitimate child and thus entitled to one-fifth share of his estate, along with his wife and three children. The judge said that in the Nashik case, there was absolutely no need to order a DNA test at the threshold when the 19-year-old had yet to open his case.
It was wholly unnecessary for the civil court to issue the order, he noted. The judge added that if a court can decide the factual controversy after considering the evidence on record, conducting tests may not even be necessary.
“It is only after parties lead evidence and the court finds it impossible to arrive at a definitive conclusion that it can consider directing the conduct of DNA tests,” said Justice Marne. If the teenager fails to prove the foundational facts, such as his mother running the dairy business and having an extra-marital affair with the hotelier, “the whole edifice of the claim of the plaintiff would crumble.”
