Revision as of 11:25, 11 August 2021

Change of name

Can be considered before declaration of result

HC junks minors plea to change name in his school records, January 29, 2017: The Times of India

The Delhi High Court has turned down the plea of a minor student seeking a direction to CBSE to change his name in all the records maintained by the Board and issue a fresh mark-sheet and certificate of Class-X examination which he had passed in 2015.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal has observed that as per the amended Bye-Law 69.1(i) of June 25, 2015, a request for change in the name can be considered only where the change has been admitted by the court of law and notified in the government gazette before the declaration of the result of the candidate. "...Since the change of the students name was carried out after declaration of the result on May 28, 2015 his request for change of name in the school records and certificates was rejected in terms of the amended Rule 69.1(i) (changes and corrections in name)," it said.

The bench was of the opinion that having failed to challenge the vires of the amended Rule, it was not open to him to contend that amended Rule, which disentitled candidates to seek correction or change in the name within ten years, is arbitrary and illegal.

The courts order came on the plea of the student who appealed against the single judges December 2016 order, which had also refused to direct the authorities to change his name. The boy appeared for Class-X Board Examination (All-India Secondary School Examination) conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education in March 2015, and the result was declared on May 28, 2015.

Thereafter, he got his name changed and a public notice was issued to that effect in the newspapers in June 2015 along with a notification in the Gazette of India on December 5, 2015.

On the basis of the same, he made an application before CBSE seeking change of his name in the school certificates/ records.

However, on February 3, 2016, CBSE had informed him that the request for change of name had not been allowed by the competent authority in view of Rule 69.1(i) of the Examination Bye-laws duly notified on June 25, 2015.

Aggrieved by the same, the student challenged CBSEs decision before the single judge. PTI PPS ABA HMP ARC DV

Names of places

Individuals do not have legal right to challenge nomenclatures of  places

Dhananjay Mahapatra, July 22, 2021: The Times of India

Going beyond the Shakespearean “what’s there in a name”, the SC rebuked a citizen for approaching the court to seek change of name of a Nagar Panchayat in UP and said individuals do not have a legal right to challenge the nomenclature of a village, panchayat or a district, reports Dhananjay Mahapatra. The petitioner Rejendra Kumar Mishra was peeved by the UP government notification naming the governance body as Achalganj Nagar Panchayat to serve a cluster of villages. He had argued that it should be changed to Harha Nagar Panchayat as Harha was the most populous village under the ambit of the body. A bench of CJI N V Ramana, and Justices A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy asked, “What is your legal right in this regard?” Finding the response unsatisfactory, the bench dismissed the petition.

Surnames

HC: Father can’t force child to use his surname

Abhinav Garg, August 7, 2021: The Times of India

The Delhi high court said that every child has the right to use the mother’s surname and a father can’t impose his will in this regard, reports Abhinav Garg.

“A father does not own the daughter to dictate that she should use only his surname. If the minor daughter is happy with her surname, what is your problem?” the court observed. It was hearing a plea by a minor girl’s father seeking directions to authorities to have his surname, and not her mother’s, reflect in the daughter’s ID documents.

‘All kids can use mom’s surname’

Refusing any relief, justice Rekha Palli declined to pass any direction and wondered why the father moved court for such a direction.

The court said every child has a right to use his or her mother’s surname and courts can’t intervene in such matters to force the father’s will upon a child against his or her wishes. During the hearing, the man’s counsel submitted that his daughter was a minor and could not decide such issues on her own, and that the child’s surname was changed by his estranged wife.

He claimed that the change in name will make it difficult to avail insurance claims from the insurance firm as the policy was taken in the name of the girl with her father’s surname. But the court dismissed these as apprehensions and termed the plea “misconceived”. It nevertheless disposed of the petition granting liberty to the man to approach his daughter’s school to get his name recorded in the school records as the father.