Raayan Chawla Vs University of Delhi
Delhi High court
*Date of Judgement -06/11/2020*
*Sub-Change of name in the records of University -Refusal- Writ allowed with interesting observations regarding Right to change of name:*
“*1. Four centuries ago, when William Shakespeare wrote the Classic “Romeo and Juliet”, he felt that name did not matter much. In the present times, if one is asked the same question “What’s in a name”?, the answer would be:
“Its everything”.

The Delhi high court in the above case was dealing with a writ petition where the *petition a student of University of Delhi was refused change of name on the pretext that he must first get the name changed in the certificates issued by CBSE Board in the Class 10 and 12 records which he had qualified long ago and it was virtually impossible to get the same done and the court observed that the law doesn’t require a person to do an impossible task. * The Court also referred to the decision of Kerala High Court in the case of Kailash Gupta v. CBSE, 2020 SCC OnLine Ker 1590. Name is something very personal to an individual. Name is an expression of one’s individuality, one’s identity and one’s uniqueness. Name is the manner in which an individual expresses himself to the world at large. It is the foundation on which he moves around in a civil society. In a democracy, free expression of one’s name in the manner he prefers is a facet of individual right. In Our Country, to have a name and to express the same in the manner he wishes, is certainly a part of right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 (1) (a) as well as a part of the right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. State or its instrumentalities cannot stand in the way of use of any name preferred by an individual or for any change of name into one of his choice except to the extent prescribed under Article 19(2) or by a law which is just, fair and reasonable.
Finally the Court directed University of Delhi to change the name of the petitioner in their records.

This is a land mark judgement which will be beneficial to all those who are facing difficulty in change of name for any reason.

Ramesh Patodia
10-11-2020