Kerala High Court orders panchayat to register child's birth despite lack of medical records

The Kerala High Court recently directed the Mayyanad Grama Panchayat to register the birth of a two-year-old child despite absence of medical records [Ummu Kulsoom & ors v Mayyanad Grama Panchayat & ors]. .Justice Ziyad Rahman AA observed that the absence of medical evidence cannot be the sole ground to deny registration of birth and emphasised that a lenient approach must be adopted in such cases.He pointed out that that panchayat must explore other ways to verify the birth instead of relying solely on the medical inquiry and highlighted the importance of affidavits submitted by family members confirming a child's birth, stating that these sworn statements should be taken into account."However, merely because Superintendent CHC could not collect any evidence regarding the birth, that by itself cannot be a reason for the Panchayath to reject the application submitted by the 2nd petitioner in this regard. The proper course ought to have adopted by the Panchayath is to find out other sources to verify whether the birth, as claimed by the petitioner, indeed had taken place within their jurisdiction," the judge said..The petition was filed by a minor child, Ummu Kulsoom, through her father Shamnas Shamsudeen, along with her parents.The family, residing in Kollam, contended that the child was born in Ward No 7 of the Mayyanad Grama Panchayat while the mother was visiting a relative's home.Due to the sudden nature of the delivery, the child was born before medical assistance could be sought, leaving no hospital records to prove the birth.Despite submitting an application for birth registration, the panchayat rejected it, citing the lack of evidence. This was after an inquiry by the Superintendent of the Community Health Centre (CHC) Mayyanad.Aggrieved by this decision, the petitioners approached the High Court, seeking a direction to the Panchayat to register the birth under the Kerala Registration of Births and Deaths Rules, 1999..The petitioners argued that the rejection violated their rights under Articles 14 (right to equality) and 21 (right to life) of the Constitution.To support their claim, they submitted affidavits from two witnesses, including the homeowner where the birth occurred..The Court referred to Section 8(1) of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, which mandates that the responsibility to report a birth in a house lies with the head of the household, or in their absence, the nearest relative or the oldest adult present.It found that the panchayat failed to conduct a proper inquiry and ignored crucial evidence provided by the petitioner and criticised the panchayat for relying solely on the CHC report without considering the available evidence.The Court held that strict evidence should not be required in cases of birth registration, especially when it does not affect third-party rights."Since, this is relating to the question of registration of a birth, a lenient approach ought to have been made and strict evidence should not have been insisted upon. Under normal circumstances, no one needs to make up a false story with respect to the place of birth of a child, and the same is also not likely to cause any prejudice to any person or affect the rights of any other person," the Court said.It noted that the panchayat's rejection order lacked a proper inquiry into the alternative evidence, as the affidavits submitted by the petitioners were reliable and crucial to establishing the birth's occurrence..Hence it quashed the panchayat's rejection order and directed the secretary of the Mayyanad panchayat to reconsider the registration request.The panchayat was ordered to register the child's birth and issue a birth certificate upon receiving the original affidavits and to complete the process within one month from the date of receipt of the documents..The petitioners were represented by advocates SK Adhithyan and Althaf Nabeel.Advocate Sasith MR appeared for the panchayat..[Read Judgment]