Bombay high court gives BMC two weeks to respond in test tube baby’s birth certificate case

The woman, a resident of Nalla Sopara, has petitioned to court that she should not be forced to add the biological father’s name to her baby’s birth certificate

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to file a reply within two weeks concerning a 31-year-old woman’s plea that she should not be forced to record the name of her daughter’s biological father on the birth certificate.

The court had issued a notice to the BMC in December 2017, but it is yet to respond to it. (HT File Photo)

The petitioner, a single, unwed mother from Nalla Sopara, gave birth to a baby girl through the test tube method in August 2016.

When she requested the BMC’s birth registration department to permit her to leave the space for the father’s name on the child’s birth certificate blank, the civic body refused permission, following which she approached the high court.

The court issued a notice to the BMC in December 2017, but it is yet to respond to it.

The petitioner also cited the 2015 landmark judgement by the Supreme Court that stated that single mothers should not be compelled to disclose the name of their child’s biological father in birth certificates.

A bench of justices AS Oka and PN Deshmukh has granted the BMC a last chance to file its reply within two weeks.