India, April 23 -- New Delhi

The Supreme Court has stepped in to ensure that a girl child does not fall through the cracks of a bitter parentage dispute, directing the Delhi government to actively monitor and support her well-being, even as it upheld the denial of maintenance to the minor after a DNA test conclusively disproved paternity.

In a judgment that walks a careful line between strict legal principle and social responsibility, a bench of justices Sanjay Karol and N Kotiswar Singh dismissed an appeal by a mother seeking maintenance for her daughter under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, holding that once a DNA report, accepted by all parties, establishes absence of biological paternity, the law cannot compel fi...