The Supreme Court today ruled in favour of an unwed Hindu mother, allowing her to apply for guardianship of her child without needing the father’s consent.
While deciding unwed mother’s plea for guardianship, a court is not required to get consent of father. Unwed mother can’t be asked to declare name of father of her child while deciding guardianship of child.
– Supreme Court
The ruling was passed by a Supreme Court bench, led by Justice Vikramjit Sen, on an appeal made by a female petitioner. The woman had challenged the procedural necessity of involving the father of her child in a guardianship petition – even though she never married him – under the Guardians and Wards Act and the Hindu Minority Guardianship Act.
The petitioner states that the father does not know about the child’s existence.