Demand grows, but DNA tests fall under a grey area

Source– The post is based on the article “Demand grows, but DNA tests fall under a grey area” published in The Hindu on 31th October 2022.

Syllabus: GS3- Science and Technology

News- The article explains the issues related with DNA tests. It also explains the position of higher courts on DNA tests.

What are the issues involved?

The demand for DNA tests are increasing by around 20% each year.

There is conflict between two issues. On the one hand, it encroaches on the privacy of individuals and there is danger of self-incrimination. On the other hand, it is needed to unearth the truth, claim of marital infidelity and proving paternity.

The Supreme Court recognized bodily autonomy and privacy as part of the right to life under Article 21.

Section 112 of the Indian Evidence Act  presumes that a child born to a married woman is legitimate. The burden of proof is on the person claiming illegitimacy of the child. The use of DNA tests to deal with claims of infidelity competes with this section.

What have been the views of the cases?

The Supreme Court has recently held in a case concerning a woman protecting her identity that compelling an unwilling person to undergo a DNA test would be a violation of his/her personal liberty and right to privacy.

In Bhabani Prasad Jena, 2010; Supreme Court held that judges cannot order genetic tests as a “roving enquiry”.

In the Banarsi Dass case, 2005, it held that DNA must balance the interests of the parties. DNA tests should also not be ordered if there was other material evidence at hand to prove the case.

In its Ashok Kumar judgment last year, the court said judges, should examine “proportionality of the legitimate aims”, before ordering a genetic test.

High Courts also have taken divergent views. Kerala High Court delivered two contrasting verdicts. In a high-profile case last year, it allowed a genetic test to establish that a former Left student leader and her husband were the biological parents of a one-year-old baby. In another case, it dismissed a 77-year-old man’s plea for a DNA test to prove that his wife had been adulterous.