Bombay HC Allows Child Raised By Single Mother To Drop Father’s Name, Stresses 'Right To Identity'

Last Updated:February 20, 2026, 13:52 IST

The Bombay High Court ruled that a child raised solely by her mother cannot be compelled to carry the father’s name or caste in official records.

The Bombay High Court has ruled that a child brought up solely by her mother cannot be forced to carry her father’s name, surname or caste in official records merely because administrative formats once required it, while allowing a 12-year-old girl to modify her identity details in school documents.

In a significant judgment delivered on February 2, a bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Hiten Venegavkar at the Aurangabad bench emphasised that recognising a single mother as a complete parent for determining a child’s civic identity is rooted in constitutional principles rather than sympathy.

A copy of the order became available on February 18.

The court observed that, “recognition of a single mother as a complete parent for purposes of a child’s civic identity is not an act of charity but constitutional fidelity."

It further remarked that the decision marks a shift in social and legal thinking, stating, “It reflects the movement from patriarchal compulsion to constitutional choice, from lineage as fate to dignity as right."

The bench strongly criticised the continued insistence on paternal identity in official documentation, noting that a modern and developing society cannot mandate that a child’s public identity must remain tied to an absent father while the mother, who shoulders the entire responsibility of upbringing, remains secondary in administrative records.

“A child raised exclusively by her mother cannot be compelled to carry, as the state’s chosen description of her, the father’s name and surname merely because the format once demanded it," the court said.

The order came on a petition filed by the minor seeking correction of her name in school records and a change in caste entry from ‘Maratha’ to ‘Scheduled Caste-Mahar’.

According to the plea, the girl’s mother is a single parent and natural guardian, and the father has no functional or legal role in the child’s life.

The mother had earlier accused the father of sexual assault, though the parties later reached a settlement under which permanent custody of the child remained with the mother.

School authorities had rejected the request last year, prompting the child to approach the High Court.

The bench noted that the Maharashtra government itself recognises the importance of a mother’s name in identity documentation and held that subordinate authorities could not refuse such requests once policy principles were clear.

Highlighting constitutional protections, the court said, “The Constitution provides a life with dignity which includes the right to an identity that is not forcibly tethered to an absent parent where such tethering serves no welfare purpose and causes avoidable social harm."

The judges also underscored the lasting impact of educational records, observing that a school record is a public document that accompanies a child through multiple stages of life.

The assumption that identity must flow through the father, the court said, is not a neutral administrative practice but a legacy of patriarchal structures.

“To insist on this presumption in contemporary India, especially in cases of single motherhood and exclusive maternal custody, imposes a structural burden upon women and their children," the court said, adding that such systems make mothers fully responsible yet insufficiently recognised in matters of identity.

The bench further observed, “An administration that insists the father’s name is indispensable, but the mother’s name is optional does not merely follow a custom; it reproduces inequality through documentation."

Noting that the child had grown up entirely within her mother’s social and caste environment, and also referring to the serious allegations earlier levelled against the father, the High Court directed school authorities to carry out the requested corrections in the records.

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