SC allows unwed mother to be child’s guardian

From regressive to progressive

New Delhi: In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that there was no need for the consent of the father in giving guardianship of a child to an unwed mother.The apex court bench headed by Justice Vikramajit Sen said this while recalling the earlier order of a guardianship court and asking it to re-examine the plea by the unwed mother seeking guardianship of the child without issuing notice to the father.

The court said that the lower courts, including High Court, lost sight of the issue that was before them to be examined and decided the matter without taking into account the welfare of the child. The court order came on a petition by a woman who is a gazetted officer in the government. She had challenged the procedural necessity of disclosing the identity of the father and issuing notice to him on a plea seeking sole guardianship of the child by the unwed mother.

The mother had contended that the man stayed with her barely for two months and did not even know the existence of the child. The woman has pointed out that if identifying the father is not mandatory on a passport application form, this can be allowed in a guardianship case, too, under “exceptional circumstances”.