Nithyakalyani Narayanan. V
The Allahabad High Court held that a name is of universal human value, and it must be valued across territories. Therefore, people have a right to change their names as per their personal choice and it is a fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The single bench stated this while allowing a writ petition challenging the action of UP Board of High School and Intermediate Education rejecting the application by Sameer Rao requesting to change his name in his High School and Intermediate examination certificate.
The name of the petitioner was “Shahnawaz” as per his High School and Intermediate exam certificates, issued in 2013 and 2015 respectively. His name change to “Md Sameer Rao” was publicly disclosed in 2020 and therefore he applied for a change in his name to the Board. The application was denied because Regulation 40 (क) of the Uttar Pradesh Intermediate Education Act,1921 allows the application for a change of name to be filed within three years of the year when the candidate appeared in the exam.
Justice Ajay Bhanot observed that the authorities’ actions were arbitrary in nature and were against the fundamental rights of the Petitioner under Article 14, Article 19 (1) (a) and Article 21 of the Constitution. The Court directed the Education Board to permit the applicant to change his name and issue fresh certificates with the new name. The Court also added that Regulation 40 (क) of the Act, has a narrow construction upon the limitation period of three years, which infringes the fundamental rights of the applicant.
The Court directed the Secretary Ministry of Home, Central Government and the Chief Secretary, Uttar Pradesh Government to create appropriate legal and administrative frameworks to remove irregularities in identity documents.
Name of the Case: Md Sameer Rao vs. State Of U.P. And 2 Others [WRIT – C No. – 3671 of 2022]
Citation: 2023 (AB) 170
Bench: Justice Ajay Bhanot
Click here to access the order.