The Supreme Court has issued notice in a petition seeking the effective implementation and full realisation of the object and purpose of the Registration of Births and Deaths (RBD) Act, 1969. The apex court issued notice to the Union on December 1.
A Bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna agreed to examine the petition, filed by activist Sabu Mathew George, which said the “registration of birth is a right of every child and is the first step to establishing their individual legal identity”.
“This is a fundamental right which has been recognised in various international conventions as well as in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These vital statistics are also essential for transparency and for effective demographic research and interventions in socio-economic planning. They help to evaluate the effectiveness of various social sector programmes. A notable example of this is the important role played by demographic research in a proper assessment of declining or rising sex ratios to better inform policies on protection of girl children,” the petition argued.
