New Delhi:

The Delhi High Court has said that the right to identify oneself by name or as daughter or son of parents is the basis of personal identity.

The court came to this conclusion while dealing with a petition seeking change of name of the plaintiff’s father in the CBSE class 10 and 12 merit list.

The court noted that the name mentioned in the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) certificate was indeed not that of the petitioner’s father and she had given her uncle’s name at the time of registration as her father had expired.

Despite some discrepancies in the spelling of the applicant’s father’s name in various public documents, the court said names are markers of identity and a pragmatic rather than pedantic approach should be taken in such cases.

“Courts must adopt a realistic approach when dealing with such cases, keeping in mind the overriding considerations… Names are identity markers and one has the right to identify oneself by name and the identity of a daughter or son. The names of the parents are correct Mention, is crucial to one’s identity as an individual.

“It is, therefore, of prima facie necessity that the court, while receiving a petition in this regard, must ensure that the petition, if genuine, is accepted,” Justice C Hari Shankar said in a recent order pointed out.

The court considered documents like Aadhaar and domicile and concluded that it was difficult to retain doubt on the name of the petitioner’s father, adding that when one transliterates the name from vernacular to English, the spelling may differ.

“The court cannot get too technical on such issues and start rejecting rectification petitions just because there is a slight difference in spelling between ‘Shrivastav’ and ‘Shrivastava’,” it added.

The court directed CBSE to immediately issue new mark sheets for class 10 and 12 to the petitioner, reflecting the correct name of his father.

Due to “slight discrepancies” in the spelling of names in various public documents, the court asked the petitioner to provide an affidavit regarding the correct names to CBSE and provide compensation to the board in this regard.

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