MUMBAI: The union government on Thursday informed the Bombay High Court that while applying for passports an unwed mother should declare how she conceived, according to a media report.
Advocate Purnima Bhatia, appearing for the government, said the woman should mention "if she was raped" and why she does not want the father's name included in the document, according a Times of India report.
The Centre made its stand clear in reply to a query by a division bench of Justices V M Kanade and Anuja Prabhudessai while hearing a petition filed by a woman challenging the passport authority's refusal to include her step-father's name in her passport.
The woman also alleged that the officer refused to alternately include the name of her mother.
According to the report, the government's stand has taken the judges by surprise.