Right to live with dignity includes not being tied down by casteism: Delhi HC
New Delhi (PTI): Stating that the right to live with dignity includes not being "tied down by casteism", the Delhi High Court has directed the CBSE to comply with the request of two siblings belonging to the Scheduled Caste community to update their father's surname, which he has changed due to social stigma, in their Class 10 and 12 certificates.
Justice Mini Pushkarna said the denial by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in carrying out the requisite change in the certificates was "totally unjustified" and if a person wanted to not to be identified with any particular caste that may be a cause of prejudice, the same is permissible.
"It is to be noted that the petitioners have every right to have an identity which gives them an honourable and respectable identity in the society.. The Right to Identity is an intrinsic part of the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India," the court said.
In response to the petition, CBSE had said the change in the surname would entail a change in the caste of the petitioners, which could be misused.
The court, however, clarified that the change in the father's surname shall not entail a change of caste of the petitioners or allow them to take advantage of any reservation or any other benefit that might be available to the updated caste/surname.
The petitioner brothers told the court that their father decided to change his surname due to caste atrocities suffered by him on day to day basis, based on his surname.
The judge said the petitioner brothers have every right to have an "honourable and respectable" identity in society and if they have suffered any disadvantage on account of their surname, they were "certainly entitled to a change of their identity that gives respectability to the petitioners in the societal structure".
"Therefore, the CBSE is directed forthwith to carry out the requisite changes in the 10th and 12th certificates of the petitioners to reflect the name of their father (with the changed surname)," stated the court in an order passed last month.
There is no denying the fact that the Right to Life includes, within its ambit, the Right to Live with Dignity, which includes not being tied down by any casteism that a person may face on account of the caste to which such person belongs, said the court.
The father of the petitioners had published a note in the newspaper informing about the change of his name, which was also published in the Gazette Notification and reflected in the various public documents including Aadhaar Card and PAN Card, it was stated in their plea.
The petitioners then applied for a change of their father's name in the 10th and 12th certificates as issued by the CBSE, but their request was rejected.
"Owing to the social stigma attached, the father of the petitioners changed his surname. Thus, in order to overcome the social stigma and the disadvantage faced by the petitioners on account of their surname, the petitioners applied for a change of their father's name in the Class 10th and 12th Certificates as issued by the CBSE," said the court.
"Thus, if a person wants to change his or her surname, so as not to be identified with any particular caste that may be a cause of prejudice to such person in any manner, the same is permissible," it stated.
The court said CBSE is at liberty to requisition any documents required for carrying out the rectification of the surname.
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FIDE Women's World Cup final: Humpy draws with Divya in first game
Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.
The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.
Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.
What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.
"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,
which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.
"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.
"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.
"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.
In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.
The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.
With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.
Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).
