\u2022 Says paternity challenges cause humiliation, stigma and harm to family honour
\n\u2022 Warns against judicial intrusion into sanctity of family life and women\u2019s reputation<\/p>\n
ISLAMABAD: Overturning a lower court order for a DNA test to ascertain the parentage of a petitioner, the Supreme Court has ruled that the right to privacy \u2014 recognised as an entitlement to personal sanctuary \u2014 requires protecting individuals from undue intrusion into their private lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe unnecessary public challenge to the paternity of a person inherently res\u00adults in societal embarrassment, humiliation, and severe psychological stigma,\u201d observed Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar while accepting an appeal filed by petitioner Khalid Hameed.<\/p>\n
On Nov 3, 2022, a special judge of the Anti-Corruption Court, Pakpattan, had ordered the respective circle officer to conduct DNA tests of the petitioner and one Mohammad Haneef, holding that the real dispute in an inheritance matter centred on the petitioner\u2019s paternity.<\/p>\n
The directive was challenged through a revision petition before the Lahore High Court, which rejected the plea on Dec 6, 2022.<\/p>\n
The controversy involved several res\u00adpondents allegedly involved in forgery and corruption pertaining to a material alteration of the petitioner\u2019s parentage in educational records, purportedly to deprive him of his rightful inheritance.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court said challen\u00adges to paternity must not be taken light\u00ad\u00adly, as compelling a DNA test without ade\u00adquate grounds inherently casts serious aspersions on the character and moral integrity of the mother \u2014 a course the top court has previously declared impermissible.<\/p>\n
Such judicial directives, when lacking proper legal basis, amount to an unwarranted intrusion into the sanctity of family life and a woman\u2019s reputation, which should never be tolerated under the gui\u00adse of legal process, observed Justice Kak\u00adar, who was heading a two-judge bench.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis protection extends to personal data, communications, family life, and all facets of the personal sphere against un\u00ad\u00adw\u00adarranted interference by the state or pri\u00adv\u00ada\u00adte entities,\u201d the six-page judgement said.<\/p>\n
Justice Kakar observed that any de\u00ad\u00adm\u00adand for a DNA test, particularly to determine parentage, encroaches upon fundamental privacy rights, as genetic information contains comprehensive data about lineage and physical characteristics. These fundamental rights, the jud\u00adgement said, safeguard bodily integrity and ensure an individual\u2019s autonomy to refuse unsolicited medical procedures.<\/p>\n
The right conferred under Article 14 does not concern any premises, home or office, but the person \u2014 the man or woman wherever he or she may be, Justice Kakar underscored. He said that obtaining someone\u2019s DNA without due process fundamentally violates rights to privacy, autonomy, and liberty, as it involves extracting extre\u00admely sensitive personal information.<\/p>\n
While intrinsically linked to the rig\u00adhts to existence and autonomy, the right to privacy has evolved into an independent fundamental guarantee under Article 14, representing the ultimate honour of the human person and the essence of individuality, the judgement stated. It protects a zone of choice and self-determination, enabling individuals to make intimate decisions without fear of surveillance or unauthorised disclosure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe inviolability of privacy is direc\u00adtly linked with the dignity of man,\u201d Jus\u00adtice Kakar remarked, adding that preserving human dignity requires safeguarding privacy from invasion and unlawful intrusion. The judgement warned that such encroachment carries the serious risk of misuse or unauthorised dissemination of an individual\u2019s genetic blueprint, potentially causing grave personal and professional harm.<\/p>\n
The right to liberty under Article 9, it said, goes beyond protection from physical detention and encompasses freedom from arbitrary or purposeless restraints on personal autonomy that are inconsistent with public interest or statutory provisions.<\/p>\n
A judicial order for DNA testing without consent or legal justification, therefore, is not a mere procedural flaw but one that causes profound adverse effects on an individual\u2019s life and dignity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2022 Says paternity challenges cause humiliation, stigma and harm to family honour \u2022 Warns against judicial intrusion into sanctity of family life and women\u2019s reputation ISLAMABAD: Overturning a lower court order for a DNA test to ascertain the parentage of a petitioner, the Supreme Court has ruled that the right to privacy \u2014 recognised as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-court-and-crime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14171"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14173,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14171\/revisions\/14173"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}