ABC (listed in search metadata as Karuna Purti) v. State (NCT of Delhi)
Background
An unwed, financially independent Christian mother raised her son alone since 2010 without any involvement from the child's father. When she sought to make her son her nominee for her savings and insurance, she was told she needed either to name the father or obtain a guardianship/adoption certificate. She applied to be declared the sole guardian under Section 7 of the Guardians and Wards Act, but the Delhi High Court held her application could not proceed unless she disclosed the father's name and address so he could be notified.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that an unwed mother seeking guardianship of her child is not obligated to notify the putative father under Section 11 of the Guardians and Wards Act, reasoning that the child's welfare, not the competing claims of the parents, is the Court's paramount concern. The Court directed the Guardian Court to recall its dismissal and consider the appellant's guardianship application expeditiously without requiring notice to the father. The Court also separately directed, as a broader principle not limited to this case, that authorities must issue birth certificates to children of unwed/single mothers on the basis of the mother's affidavit alone, without insisting on the father's name.
Lesson Learnt
An unwed mother does not need the consent or even notification of the biological father to be legally recognized as her child's sole guardian: the child's welfare is the deciding factor, not parental entitlement, and bureaucratic requirements like birth certificates cannot be held hostage to disclosing a father's identity.