Overview

• Justice B. P. Routray dismissed a challenge to a Kuchinda trial court order that declined a DNA test sought in a joint family property suit.
• The court said seeking genetic proof despite the mother’s admission would insult her motherhood and contravene the Evidence Act’s framework.
• It found a DNA test irrelevant for determining shares in partition, noting that family membership can rest on societal recognition rather than blood alone.
• The judgment reiterates that compelled sampling intrudes on fundamental privacy and that DNA orders require an eminent-need threshold, not routine use.
• The defendant is 58, and the court agreed a test now would yield no meaningful result, aligning with recent Supreme Court guidance limiting such directions.