Kochi(PTI): The children of unwed mothers and rape victims can live in this country with the fundamental rights of privacy, liberty, and dignity, the Kerala High Court has said and allowed a person to include his mother's name alone in the birth certificate, identity certificates and other documents.

Justice P V Kunhikrishnan, in an order issued on July 19, said a child of an unwed mother is also a citizen of this country and nobody can infringe any of his/her fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

"The children of unwed mothers and the children of raped victim can also live in this country with the fundamental rights of privacy, liberty, and dignity. None can intrude into their personal life, and if it happens, the constitutional Court of this country will protect their fundamental rights," the order said.

The name of the father of the petitioner, who is the son of an unwed mother, was different in three of his documents.

The court directed the Registrar of Births and Deaths to expunge and remove the name of the father from the Birth Register maintained at the office regarding the petitioner and issue a certificate showing the name of mother only as a single parent, if such a request is made by the petitioners.

"He/she is a son/daughter of not only the unwed mother but this great country India," the court said in its order.

The court also said the state should protect citizens of all kind as equal to other citizens without disclosing their identity and privacy. "Otherwise, they will face unimaginable mental agonies," it said.

"We want a society with no such characters like 'Karna', who curses his life because of the insult he faced for not knowing the whereabouts of his parents. We want the real brave 'Karna' who was the real hero and fighter in 'Mahabharata'. Our Constitution and the constitutional Courts will protect all of them and the new age 'Karnas' can live like any other citizen with dignity and pride," Justice Kunhikrishnan said.

The court had also directed the General Education Department, the Board of Higher Secondary Examinations, the UIDAI, the IT Department, the Passport Officer, the Election Commission of India and the State Election Commission to effect the consequential expunge of the name of the father from their official records and databases.

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Bengaluru: Congress MLC B. K. Hariprasad has launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing the party of hypocrisy over its criticism of alliance politics in Tamil Nadu.

In a post on X on Friday, Hariprasad said BJP leader B. L. Santhosh criticising the Congress party’s alliance politics in Tamil Nadu was “not just laughable, but the height of political contradiction.”

He said the Congress has always joined hands with like-minded parties to protect secular and democratic values in the country.

Hariprasad questioned the BJP over several of its past and present alliances across the country. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tripura, Bihar and Maharashtra, he accused the BJP of sharing power with parties it had earlier criticised.

He alleged that the BJP had aligned with separatist and corruption-linked political forces in different states for political gains.

“The BJP, which speaks against alliances today, should first look at its own political history,” he said, adding that the party’s record was full of “contradictions and changing stands.”

Hariprasad also accused the BJP of using central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and CBI as political tools to target opposition leaders, topple governments and influence electoral mandates.

He further claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu had strongly rejected the BJP and its ideology in the recent election.

“Congress forms alliances to protect the Constitution, secularism and national unity, while the BJP enters into alliances only for power,” he said.