KOCHI: Your name shall be 'Johan Sachin', pronounced the Kerala High Court. And the parents accepted.
The intervention of High Court has become inevitable when the couple, belonging to two religions and now estranged, choose two different names for their child and was not willing to arrive at an agreement over the issue. While the mother chose the name 'Johan Mani Sachin', the father preferred 'Abhinav Sachin' for the child. The court assigned the name after choosing half each of the names proposed by the parents. Finally, it decided to call him 'Johan Sachin'!
Justice AK Jayasankaran Nambiar issued the order on the petition filed by wife and husband challenging the inaction on the part of the Municipality to issue a birth certificate to their second son showing the name as per their respective wishes. The couple got married as per Christian Rites in August 2010. There was no dispute over the naming of the first child. After the birth of the second child, the couple became strained and they approached the Family Court for dissolution of the marriage and it is pending. Meanwhile, the need for a birth certificate in respect of the second child had arisen.
Municipality took a stand that in the absence of a consensus between the parents of the child, it could not assign a name to the child for the purpose of issuing a birth certificate. The municipality also indicated that a court order would be required for the municipality to act. Following this, the couple approached the court.
The court said that while the petitioners are parties in a matrimonial dispute, it was an urgent requirement that a name is given to the child, so that child can be admitted to a school, where a birth certificate would be a pre-requisite for admission. The mother took a stand that she was ready to give up the name 'Mani' from Johan Mani Sachin. However, the husband insists on the name 'Abhinav' being retained in lieu of 'Johan' in the name.
"As a conciliatory measure and with a view to pacify both the parents of the child, it would be in the interests of justice to accede to the wishes of both the parents to the extent possible and therefore, assign the name Johan Sachin," the court held. The court also directed the secretary of the municipality to issue a birth certificate by showing the name of the child as 'Johan Sachin'.