Overview
- The High Court set aside a Channarayapatna civil court’s April 2025 direction permitting a DNA test in a partition dispute.
- Justice M. Nagaprasanna underscored the Section 112 presumption of legitimacy for children born in wedlock and the need to first plead and prove non-access.
- The ruling cautioned that forcing genetic testing without imminent need can violate Article 21 rights to privacy and dignity and threaten marital sanctity.
- The court faulted the trial judge for treating the request “as a frolicsome act,” noting no material showed non-access even as the child was born of a subsisting marriage.
- The judgment ordered circulation of its observations to subordinate courts to prevent DNA tests being directed as a routine or “for the asking” measure.