There may be illegitimate parents but not children: Karnataka High Court

Bangalore , 15/7 (AO Bureau):The Karnataka High Court said that the parents can be illegitimate but the child is not illegitimate as he has no role in the birth of the child. A division bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and H Sanjeev Kumar made the remarks during the recent quashing of a single bench judgment that had dismissed K Santhosh’s plea. Santosh had requested the court to direct him to provide jobs on compassionate grounds after the death of his father in the state-run Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM).

Santosh had applied for the job on compassionate grounds in the year 2014 after the death of his father posted as Lineman Grade-2. However, the petitioner was born to the second wife of the deceased whom he married while being the first wife. BESCOM had rejected Santosh’s application citing its own policy. Against the decision of the company, the petitioner filed a petition in the High Court, which was quashed by the single bench.

The two-judge bench while setting aside the single bench’s decision, underlined, “We want to say that no child in this world is born without mother and father.” The child has no role in its birth. So the law should accept the fact that the parent can be illegitimate but the child cannot be illegitimate.”

The bench noted that it is up to Parliament to bring uniformity in the law – the legality of children – and to consider ways in which children born outside a valid marriage can also be protected.

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