HC refuses DNA test of woman, child on husband’s adultery plea

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday set aside a family court’s order for a DNA test of a woman and her child on her husband’s plea to find if he was the child’s

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday set aside a family court’s order for a DNA test of a woman and her child on her husband’s plea to find if he was the child’s father.

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A bench of justice Gita Mittal and justice IS Mehta said the husband failed to make out a prima facie case justifying an order for compelling the baby to give a sample for a DNA examination.

The family court had ordered DNA test of the wife and child in a petition of matrimonial dispute between the husband and wife – both IAS officers.

At the time of marriage in December 2007, the husband was a serving IAS officer and was posted at District Mokokchung, Nagaland, while the wife was residing with her parents, continuing her studies, and preparing for the civil services examination.

Later in 2009, the wife also qualified the IAS examination and was allotted the UP Cadre. In 2011, the husband was given a posting in UP. The baby was born in October 2013.

Subsequently, the husband and wife decided to seek divorce. In the divorce petition, the husband accused his wife of adultery and also denied paternity of the child.

The bench noted that it was not the case of the husband in his divorce petition that he had no access to his wife at the time when the child of the parties could have been conceived.

“The possible period of Baby ‘X’ conception would be around 31st December, 2012. It is also the appellant’s case that the parties “hardly cohabited” from 2011 to December, 2013. ‘H’ has thus admitted “access” at the relevant time,” the bench said.

“If he had no access to his wife and had no relations with her, there would also be no “whirlpool” in the husband’s mind about the paternity of the child but the husband would be absolutely sure that the child was not his,” the court noted.

The court told the family court — where the main divorce case is pending — to decide the case “uninfluenced by any observation contained” in the verdict.