Win For Single Mothers: Delhi HC Rules Father's Name Not Needed For Passport

The Delhi High Court, while deciding a petition in favour of a single mother, directed the passport authorities to remove the father’s name from the minor son’s passport. The mother had stated that the father had abandoned the child before his birth and that the mother had been raising the son single-handedly.

On hearing the case, Justice Prathiba M. Singh observed that this would be considered a case where the father has completely deserted the child. Under such circumstances, the court is of the opinion that Clause 4.5.1 of Chapter 8 and Clause 4.1 of Chapter 9 would clearly be applicable.

Father's Name In Passport Not Needed

Hence, the court directed that the father’s name be deleted from the passport and the passport be re-issued without the father's name. The court also said that the child’s surname can also be changed under such circumstances. The court noted that such relief can be considered depending on the factual position emerging in different cases. No hard-and-fast rule can be applied.

The single mother and her minor son pleaded with the high court to seek the deletion of the child's biological father’s name from the child’s existing passport and re-issue a fresh passport without mentioning the father’s name. She claimed that since the father had abandoned the child even before birth, passport authorities should not insist on adding the father’s name to the passport. The single mother also relied on the mutual settlement and the fact that it happened before the child was born.

As a single mother with similar experiences, I can highly relate to this. I was unofficially separated from my ex-husband even before the birth of my child. During the divorce, he relinquished all his paternal rights. He has never been a part of my child’s life, and I’ve raised my daughter single-handedly right from her birth. So, my child carries my surname and has no mention of her biological father in any legal documents.

I made a conscious decision because I don’t want to go through the pain of having to use my ex-husband’s name in all legal documents pertaining to my daughter when he is completely out of our lives. No offence intended, but he merely contributed sperm, and yes, my child will have his DNA too, which I cannot remove. But so what? Won’t a child born through surrogacy to a single mother have the DNA of the sperm donor? While a single woman who got pregnant through IVF wouldn’t have been married.

As a single mother myself, I can vouch that we don’t do it out of ego. Honestly, we really have no time to hold grudges, feed our egos, or play revenge games. With the child’s father out of the picture, we are burning candles at both ends, trying to provide the best life that we can for our children.

I don’t mean to trivialise the relationship between a father and child. I do know many fathers and single fathers who are amazing parents. However, in certain cases where the father has willfully abandoned the child and the mother has been solely raising the child, why should the father’s name be present in any of the documents?

When the father is not contributing physically, emotionally, or financially to the child and he is never in the picture, what is the necessity of carrying along his name? Why should a single mother be expected to use his name in every document while she is toiling hard to raise the child on her own? If she is playing the roles of both mother and father, why does the child still need to have the father’s name stuck to him or her? As a single mother, I’m extremely glad that our legal system is giving out such progressive landmark judgements.

Suggested Reading: Why I Welcome SC’s Decision To Waive Six-Month Waiting Period For Divorce

Views expressed are author's own, not of the platform