Aparna Ajinkya Firodia v. Ajinkya Arun Firodia
Issue
Whether DNA testing should be ordered as a matter of course to resolve a paternity dispute arising in matrimonial litigation.
What the court held
The Supreme Court reaffirmed the strong legal presumption of legitimacy attaching to a child born during a valid marriage, and held that DNA testing should not be ordered as a routine, automatic truth-finding device — it remains an exceptional step, weighed against the presumption of legitimacy and the child's interests.
What the court did not hold
That DNA testing can never be ordered, or that biological evidence is irrelevant to every paternity dispute. The Court left room for DNA testing where the facts justify it — it declined to treat it as an automatic default in every disputed case.
Why OIM cares
The judgment makes explicit something the statutory presumption already implies: "biological truth" and "the legal question before the court" are not automatically the same inquiry. That distinction shapes what a man doubting paternity can and cannot expect a court to do on request.
Context
The dispute arose inside matrimonial litigation where paternity of a child became contested. The husband sought a DNA test to settle the question; the wife resisted it. The case reached the Supreme Court on the question of when, if ever, a court should compel such testing.
What the Court actually did
The Court reiterated the presumption of legitimacy under evidence law and set out the standard a party must meet before a DNA test will be ordered against a party’s wishes — treating it as an intrusive step requiring justification, not a routine procedural request either party can obtain simply by asking.
Where this sits in the OIM comparison
This case is a useful corrective to a common assumption: that in the age of cheap, accurate DNA testing, biological paternity disputes are simple to resolve. The Court’s reasoning shows a deliberate legal choice to prioritise the presumption of legitimacy and the child’s interests over an unrestricted right to biological verification — a choice with real consequences for a man who doubts paternity but cannot yet show grounds a court will accept.
Related law
Primary source
Aparna Ajinkya Firodia v. Ajinkya Arun Firodia — Supreme Court of India →
SOURCE CHECKED · 11 SEPT 2026