According to the Supreme Court, the legal father of a child born in a valid marriage will be the husband, even if the biological father is someone else. The purpose of Section 112 of the Evidence Act is to protect the child from defamation. The court cannot order a DNA test to deny paternity.
New Delhi: If a woman becomes pregnant from another relationship during marriage, then the Supreme Court has recently given an important decision on who will be the father of that child. The Court said that under Section 112 of the Indian Evidence Act, a child born during a valid marriage is considered to be the legitimate child of the husband. This means that the legal husband of a married woman will be called the father of that child. The court said that it is important to give priority to the honor of the child over his biological father, hence no matter how the child is born, the woman’s legal husband will be its father.
Physical relationship
But if after marriage there is no physical relationship between the husband and wife capable of leading to pregnancy, then in that situation the husband will be given a chance to challenge it legally. However, the court has said that this cannot be done just by accusing the wife of being an adulterer or by getting the child’s DNA test done.
If there is anyone else…
Citing Section 112 of the Indian Evidence Act, the Supreme Court said that no matter who the real father of the child is, the legal husband of the woman will be called the father of the child. It is important to protect the child from defamation without any mistake. Therefore, the judges said that if there has been physical relations between the husband and wife after marriage, even if the child is fathered by someone else, the woman’s legal husband will be its father.
Court cannot order
The court also said that courts cannot order DNA tests in such cases to deny paternity. He clarified that the purpose of this rule is to maintain the emotional, economic and social security of the child and to prevent personal matters of the family from being used to defame the child.