NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court held that degrees and certificates should have names of both mother and father, highlighting equality of recognition and saying eliminating the name of the mother would be "clearly retrogressive" in such documents.
Justice Harishankar, in an order, noted that there is no reasonable justification for only mentioning the father’s name alone in any certificate relating to education or educational qualifications.
"It would be clearly retrogressive if educational certificates, degrees and other such documents reflect the name only of the father of a candidate, eliminating the name of the mother. The names of both parents should necessarily be reflected on the body of the certificate," he added.
It was the case of a law student Ritika Prasad, who has completed her 5-year B.A. LLB course from a law school in the national capital. She was pointing out in her plea that the degree certificate was only displays her father’s name (Mahesh Prasad) and excludes her mother’s name (Poonam Prasad).
In the recent order, the high court also expressed satisfaction that today nearly 70 percent of students passed out of law schools are girls.
“To even psychologically compartmentalize human beings on the basis of sex and gender would be woefully anachronistic. It is a matter of pride and joy to this Court to see that a majority of young Counsel at the bar today – including the redoubtable Ms. Prasad – are girls, and, even more satisfyingly, I am informed that 70% of graduates from law schools today are girls. The artificial gender-based mental distinction that we have, over ages, drawn, based on a chance chromosomal circumstance, is now all but effaced. If there is still, among us, anyone who retains that mental block, it is time he woke up and smelt the coffee.”
The court was in complete agreement with the argument of Ritika Prasad.
"I am, therefore, completely in agreement with Ms Prasad [petitioner] in her submission that there is no reasonable justification for only mentioning the father’s name alone in any certificate relating to education or educational qualifications. It would be clearly retrogressive if educational certificates, degrees and other such documents reflect the name only of the father of a candidate, eliminating the name of the mother. The names of both parents should necessarily be reflected on the body of the certificate," the order pointed out.