DT. NABANITA BANERJEE vs THE SERAMPORE MUNICIPALITY AND ORS

Form No.J(2)


IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
CONSTITUTIONAL WRIT JURISDICTION
APPELLATE SIDE


Present :

The Hon’ble Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury

WPA 3347 of 2026
Dt. Nabanita Banerjee
versus
The Serampore Municipality & ors.

For the petitioner : Mr. Sudipta Dasgupta, Adv.
Mr. S. Sutradhar, Adv.
Mr. Baibhav Roy, Adv.

For the Municipality : Mr. Goutam Lahiri, Adv.

For the respondent No. 4: Mr. Anath Nath Naskar, Adv.
Mr. Arindam Shit, Adv.

Heard on : 13.05.2026

Judgment on : 13.05.2026

Raja Basu Chowdhury, J (Oral):

1. The present writ petition has been filed, inter alia, praying for a
direction upon the concerned respondent to alter the surname of the
minor child of the petitioner from “Adhikary” to “Banerjee” in birth
certificate bearing registration No. WB_BR_2011/20036/1/6750. It
is the petitioner’s case that she was married to one Santu Adhikary,
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the respondent No. 4 herein on 11 February, 2008 as per Hindu

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Rites and Customs and out of the wedlock, she had given birth to a
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male child on 19 October, 2011 at United Nursing Home Pvt. Ltd.,
Serampore Hooghly. The factum of the petitioner giving birth to a
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male child on 19 October, 2011 would corroborate from the
certificate issued by the concerned nursing home. Following the
aforesaid, a birth certificate was issued by the Serampore
Municipality in Form 5 and as per Rule 9 of the Registration of
Births and Deaths Rules, 2000. The petitioner’s case proceeds on
the premise that there was a marital discord between the petitioner
and her husband which ultimately led to a separation and thereafter
a decree for divorce on consent was passed by the Court of Learned
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Additional District Judge, 1 Court, Serampore, Hooghly in MAT suit
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No. 454 of 2015 vide judgment and order dated 1 December, 2015.
Though, the petitioner claims in the petition that it was decided
mutually by the petitioner and the respondent No. 4 that the
custody of the minor child will remain with the petitioner, there is no
document to support the same. According to the petitioner, the
minor child has since been residing with the petitioner and is now
14 years old. The respondent No. 4 has never claimed the custody
nor has discharged any parental responsibility. The petitioner would
submit that the surname of the minor child has been recorded in the
Aadhaar card, PAN card(Minor), School records, Bank passbook and
Ration card as “Banerjee”. However, the birth certificate of the
petitioner continues to record the surname as “Adhikary”. The

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aforesaid has created an anomalous situation. The minor child who
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is presently studying in 8 standard in a School affiliated to the
Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations would soon
be required to undergo registration process for participating in the
Secondary Board examination, hence, there is a necessity to seek
alteration of the birth records as in absence thereof, the registration
of the petitioner’s minor son cannot be carried out having regard to
the anomalous situation noted hereinabove.
2. The respondent No. 4 is represented. The advocate representing him
would submit that he has no objection to this alteration. He would
submit that the respondent no.4’s name is Santu Adhikary and not
Santanu Adhikary as recorded in the cause title of the present writ
petition. He would submit that he has already filed vakalatnama and
is authorized to represent Santu Adhikary, the biological father of
the minor child of the petitioner. According to the learned advocate
for the respondent No. 4, the said respondent does not have any
objection if the surname of the minor child is altered in birth
certificate from “Adhikary” to “Banerjee”.
3. The municipality is represented and would submit that during
pendency of the writ petition, the municipality has passed an order
observing that municipality also has no objection in principle
regarding the change of surname of the minor son of the petitioner
from “Adhikary” to “Banerjee” and has accordingly directed the
petitioner to submit all details with a further direction that the

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WPA 3347 of 2026
matter shall be processed strictly in accordance with the guidelines
issued by the Directorate of Health Services, Government of West
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Bengal vide memo No. SBIH/2C-2-2022/200 dated 29 July, 2025.
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Such fact would corroborate from the order dated 12 May, 2026.
4. Incidentally, though the matter was pending consideration before
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this Court and though by an order dated 28 April, 2026, this Court
had directed the matter to be listed in Chamber for interaction with
the minor child at 1:30 p.m., without leave of the Court, the
municipality appears to have proceeded, such conduct on the part of
the municipality in proceeding with the matter appears to be
derogatory to say the least. The municipality, when this Court was
in seisin ought not to have proceeded with the matter. This apart,
the learned advocate for the municipality unfortunately also could
not place before this Court the particular memorandum indicated in
the aforesaid order.
5. Having heard the learned advocates appearing for the respective
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parties, I may note that by an order dated 28 April, 2026 noting the
relief sought for, this Court had fixed the matter in chamber for
interaction with the minor child at 1:30 p.m. this day. The Court has
since interacted with the child in presence of the learned advocates
representing respective parties. I find that it is an admitted position
that the petitioner has given birth to the minor male child out of the
wedlock between the petitioner and the respondent No. 4 who
appears to be the biological father of the minor child. The hospital

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WPA 3347 of 2026
had since issued a certificate recording the factum of the petitioner
giving a birth to a male child and consequent thereon, the
municipality had also issued a birth certificate. I find form the
materials available on record that the petitioner has affirmed an
affidavit before notary public at Chandernagore and has also
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affirmed an affidavit before the learned Judicial Magistrate, 1
Class, at Chandannagar, Hooghly confirming the aforesaid facts. I
also find that the application for change of surname in the birth
certificate of the minor child is pending before the municipality since
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17 October, 2025. Notwithstanding such application, the
municipality has not bothered to take any steps, only after the order
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dated 28 April, 2026 was passed the municipality thought it fit to
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decide on the representation. Unfortunately, the order dated 12
May, 2026 would reveal that the municipality is yet to take a final
decision thereon.
6. Taking into consideration, the prayer made by the petitioner and
that the society has moved forward and in today’s’ world, it is no
longer necessary to retain the surname of the biological father in the
birth certificate and for that the matter for a single parent to bring
up a child as has been recognized by the judgment delivered by the
Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Akella Lalitha v. Konda
Hanumantha Rao, reported in 2022 SCC OnLine SC 928 and also
noting Section 15 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969
do provide for correction of entry in the register of births and deaths,

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WPA 3347 of 2026
I am of the view there can be no impediment in allowing the
application.
7. Further, having regard to view taken by this Court in the case of
Namita Das v. The State of West Bengal & Ors. , having neutral
citation 2026:CHC-AS:475, I am of the view that alternation of
records as sought for by the petitioner does not appear to be
irregular in the present facts. Such alteration in my view, is also
necessary in the best interest of the minor child as the same would
remove the confusion and make all available documents recording
his date of birth in order, and in consonance with one another. It,
however, must be borne in mind that the child is a minor and may
have an independent opinion when he grows up and attains
majority.
8. In the light of the above, I direct the municipality to issue a fresh
birth certificate by incorporating the maiden surname of the
petitioner in the column of the surname of the petitioner’s minor
male child, by issuing the same as and by way of an addendum
providing that both the certificates that is the original and the
present certificate are to be read together. However, issuance of
fresh certificate shall be subject to exercise of option by the minor
child when he attains the age of majority.

9. With the above observations and directions, the writ petition is
disposed of.

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WPA 3347 of 2026
10. Urgent Photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be
made available to the parties upon compliance of all requisite
formalities.

(Raja Basu Chowdhury, J . )
Sayandeep
A.R. (Court)