On Monday, the Delhi High Court held that degrees and certificates should have names of both birth mother and father, highlighting equality of recognition. The Court asserted that the elimination of the mother’s name in such documents would be ‘clearly retrogressive’.
Plea by a Law Student Ritika Prasad
A law student Ritika Prasad who has completed the five-year BA LLB course from a law school in Delhi had filled a plea pointing out that degree certificates only display the father’s name (Mahesh Prasad) and exclude the mother’s name (Poonam Prasad).
Ritika Prasad argues, “I am informed that 70% of graduates from law schools today are girls. The artificial gender-based mental distinction that we have, over ages, drawn, based on a chance chromosomal circumstance, is now all but effaced. If there is still, among us, anyone who retains that mental block, it is time he woke up and smelt the coffee.”
The Court directs to Include Mother’s name
Agreeing with Ritika Prasad, the Court said, “There is no reasonable justification for only mentioning the father’s name alone in any certificate relating to education or educational qualifications.”
Justice Harishankar noted, “It would be clearly retrogressive if educational certificates, degrees, and other such documents reflect the name only of the father of a candidate, eliminating the name of the mother. The names of both parents should necessarily be reflected on the body of the certificate.”
The Court held that the names of both parents should be mentioned in the body of the certificate.
The court also instructed the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) to mention both the mother’s name and the father’s name in the law degree certificate.
Maharashtra decides to Include Mother’s name in Government Documents
On Monday, The Maharashtra government decided that the name of the mother would be mandatory on all government documents such as School documents, Birth certificates, Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, and property documents.
The decision of the state government is to be implemented from May 1st, 2024.
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