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Relevance: GS Paper II — Polity, Judiciary & Fundamental Rights Source: The Hindu / Supreme Court Judgments, 2026

1 · What happened

The Supreme Court, in Nikhat Parveen v. Rafique (2026), dismissed a challenge to a lower court order directing a man to undergo a DNA test in a civil paternity suit filed by a major-age son seeking declaration of paternity and a share in property.

Bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and N. Kotiswar Singh balanced the alleged father’s Right to Privacy against the son’s pursuit of inheritance and biological identity. Since the father had denied parentage since 1999 and no other evidence existed on record, the test was upheld.

2 · The “Triple Test” and the Privacy–Parentage Conflict

The “Triple Test” is the SC’s threshold framework for ordering DNA examination: paternity must be directly in issue, no other evidence must be available, and the test must be in the best interest of justice.

Statutory Anchor
Presumption of Legitimacy
Section 112, Indian Evidence Act — now Section 116, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam. A child born in valid marriage (or within 280 days of dissolution) is presumed legitimate unless “no access” between spouses is proved.
Scientific Resolution
STR Analysis
Short Tandem Repeats: 50% of a child’s nuclear DNA matches each biological parent. Perfect alignment across STR markers yields a 99.99% probability of paternity — irrefutable forensic evidence.
Judicial Mechanism
The Triple Test
(i) Is paternity directly in issue? (ii) Is any other evidence available to substitute? (iii) Is the test in the best interest of justice? All three must be satisfied.
Risk
Privacy & Regulatory Vacuum
Compulsory DNA testing engages Article 21 — Right to Privacy (K.S. Puttaswamy). The DNA Technology Regulation Bill was withdrawn over surveillance and consent concerns, leaving no overarching law.

  • Goutam Kundu (1993): DNA tests “cannot be ordered as a matter of course”; no one can be compelled to give a blood sample.
  • Dipanwita Roy (2014): Test allowed in matrimonial disputes, but avoided where possible to protect the child’s legitimacy.
  • Aparna Ajinkya Firodia (2023): Children are “not material objects”; their right not to have legitimacy frivolously questioned is part of the right to privacy.
  • Ivan Rathinam v. Milan Joseph (2025): Courts must weigh social stigma of “illegitimacy” against the child’s interest in biological identity.

UPSC Value Box
Section 112 IEA / Section 116 BSA Statutory presumption of legitimacy for a child born during a valid marriage or within 280 days of its dissolution. Rebuttable only by proof of “no access” between spouses.
Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 Successor law to the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 — came into force on 1 July 2024 as part of India’s three new criminal codes.
STR Analysis Short Tandem Repeats — short DNA sequences that repeat in tandem and vary widely between individuals; the standard forensic technique for paternity testing.
K.S. Puttaswamy (2017) Nine-judge bench affirmed the Right to Privacy as a fundamental right intrinsic to Article 21. Any infringement must pass the test of legality, legitimate aim and proportionality.
UNCRC, Article 7 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child — India is a signatory. Article 7 guarantees the child’s right “to know and be cared for by his or her parents”.
DNA Technology Bill DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill — sought to set up a national DNA Data Bank; withdrawn amid concerns over mass surveillance, consent and data privacy.

MCQ Practice Question
Q. With reference to DNA testing and paternity disputes in India, consider the following statements:

  1. Section 116 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam presumes a child born during a valid marriage to be the legitimate child of the husband, rebuttable only by proof of non-access between the spouses.
  2. In K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017), the Supreme Court held that the Right to Privacy is a statutory right derived from the Indian Evidence Act and not a fundamental right under Article 21.
  3. The Supreme Court’s “Triple Test” requires courts to examine whether paternity is directly in issue, whether other evidence is available, and whether the test is in the best interest of justice before ordering a DNA examination.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only    (b) 2 and 3 only    (c) 1 and 3 only    (d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

  • Statement 1 — Correct: Section 116 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (successor to Section 112 of the Indian Evidence Act) presumes a child born in a valid marriage to be legitimate; this can be rebutted only by proof of “no access” between the spouses at the relevant time.
  • Statement 2 — Incorrect (the trap): In K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017), the nine-judge bench unanimously declared the Right to Privacy a fundamental right intrinsic to Article 21 (and Part III broadly) — not a statutory right under the Indian Evidence Act.
  • Statement 3 — Correct: The Triple Test requires that paternity be directly in issue, no other evidence be available to resolve it, and the test be in the best interest of the parties/justice — all three must be satisfied before ordering DNA examination.

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