Prayagraj, March 27 The Allahabad High Court has directed a DNA test to determine the biological parentage of a minor girl, overturning a family court order that had granted her maintenance.
Justice Madan Pal Singh passed the order on March 17 while allowing a criminal revision petition filed by Jawahir Lal Jaiswal against a family court judgment in Sonbhadra dated March 2025.
The high court observed that in cases involving peculiar facts and circumstances, both the father and the daughter have a right to know the biological truth. It noted that uncertainty regarding paternity could adversely affect their lives.
The family court had earlier directed the petitioner to pay Rs 3,000 per month from the date of application and Rs 6,000 per month from the date of judgment until the girl's marriage, while rejecting his plea for a DNA test.
Before the high court, the petitioner claimed that his wife left him in 2000 and subsequently lived with another man. He contended that the child, born in 2011, was not his, asserting that there had been no physical relationship between them after 2000.
Counsel for the minor girl and the state opposed the plea, arguing that the trial court's order was legally sound.
However, the high court pointed to discrepancies in the records, including conflicting birth and medical certificates, and observed that the facts regarding the child's birth and parentage remained unclear.
Finding prima facie merit in the petitioner's claims, the court held that a DNA test was necessary to determine the truth and resolve the dispute.