Overview

• The Nagpur bench overturned a February 2020 family court order that had compelled a 12-year-old boy to undergo DNA profiling in a paternity dispute.
• Justice R M Joshi found that the husband never formally contested paternity, so the lower court erred in directing the genetic test.
• Under Section 112 of the Indian Evidence Act, a child born within marriage is presumed legitimate unless rebutted by clear, strong and conclusive evidence.
• The judgment cited Supreme Court precedents that minors lack capacity to consent and that paternity tests may be ordered only when ‘eminently necessary’ and aligned with the child’s best interests.
• The bench noted that adultery allegations can be substantiated through other evidence rather than subjecting a minor to invasive genetic examination.