$~109 * IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI + W.P.(C) 3610/2024 MS PRIYA DHAWAN & ANR. ..... Petitioner Through: Ms. Puja Shrivastava, Adv.

versus DELHI UNIVERSITY & ANR. ..... Respondents Through: Ms. Rashmi Singhania, Adv.

Mr. Amit Gupta with Ms. Samiksha, Advocates, for R-2.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE C. HARI SHANKAR J U D G M E N T (O R A L)

% 23.04.2024

1. Monika Dhawan married Rajesh Dhawan on 18 January 1995.

2. Out of the said wedlock, Petitioner 1, Priya Dhawan and Petitioner 2, Pranjay Dhawan were born on 4 November 1995 and 20 September 1999 respectively. The certificates of birth issued by the Government of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD) in respect of the petitioners reflect their parents’ names as Monika Dhawan and Rajesh Dhawan.

3. Rajesh Dhawan, the petitioners’ biological father, expired on 11 August 2008.

4. On 16 February 2010, the petitioners’ mother remarried. Her second husband was one Gaurav Rana. (Though there is an assertion Signature Not Verified Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AJIT Digitally Signed KUMAR WP(C)3610/2024 Page1of7 By:CHANDRASHEKHARAN in the petition that Gaurav Rana was not the actual name of the petitioners’ step-father, but that his name was Sumit Dass, that is not an issue which need to concern us in the present case. We will assume it was Gaurav Rana.)

5. Thereafter, it appears that there was discord between Monika Dhawan and Gaurav Rana, resulting in a complaint being instituted by Monika Dhawan before the SHO, P.S. K. M. Katju Marg, Rohini on

30 August 2019.

6. The petitioners, Priya Dhawan and Pranjay Dhawan brought out a notification in the Official Gazette on 5 January 2019, declaring that their names were Priya Dhawan and Pranjay Dhawan, and that their parents were Monika Dhawan and Rajesh Dhawan.

7. The name of the petitioners, as well as their parents, have thereafter been changed in all public documents, including Aadhaar Card, Passport, Driving Licence and Pan Card.

8. The petitioners also instituted WP (C) 2883/2020 before this Court, for change of their name and the name of their father in the certificate issued by the CBSE.

9. On 24 November 2021, the CBSE made a statement before this Court that the CBSE was agreeable to accede to the petitioners’ request for change of their names and their parents’ names in the certificate of the CBSE. Recording the said statement of the CBSE, Signature Not Verified Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:AJIT Digitally Signed KUMAR WP(C)3610/2024 Page2of7 By:CHANDRASHEKHARAN WP (C) 2883/2020 was disposed of by this Court vide order dated 24 November 2021.

10. The petitioners now seek a correction of their names and the name of their father in the degree and marksheet issued by the University of Delhi. The final year marksheet of Petitioner 1 was issued by the University of Delhi, consequent on her having completed the B.A. (Hons.) Italian course was issued on 24 June 2017 and the final marksheet of Petitioner 2, who had undertaken the B.A. (Hons) English Course from the School of Open Learning (SOL), was issued by the Delhi University on 25 December 2020. These certificates do not reflect the names of the petitioners’ parents, but the names of the petitioners are shown as Priya Rana and Pranjay Rana respectively. Though the marksheet of Priya Rana does not reflect the name of her father, the marksheet of Petitioner 2, Pranjay Rana shows his father’s name to be Gaurav Rana. The names of the petitioners are entered in the marksheets as Priya Rana and Pranjay Rana.

11. The degrees awarded to the petitioners consequent to the completion, by them, of their B.A (Hons) Italian and B.A (Hons) English courses, reflect their identities as “Priya Rana, D/o Gaurav Rana” and “Pranjay Rana, S/o Gaurav Rana”.

12. The petitioners, therefore, seek change of their names and the name of their father in their marksheets and degrees issued by the DU from “Priya Rana” to “Priya Dhawan”, “Pranjay Rana” to “Pranjay Dhawan” and “Gaurav Rana” to “Rajesh Dhawan”.

Signature