In the information age, identity is deemed as one of the most crucial aspects for truly reaping the privileges of being born as a human – every aspect of human life, be it the inclusion or respect in the society, working, making money, educating, travelling etc., revolve around a few documents, so attested by the State, which proves the existence of an individual. And while numerous ways of confirming such identities have evolved, the primitive method of “naming” a person continues to be in vogue even today, be it in the personal or professional era. The rapid development and the continued reliance of individuals upon the administrative departments for availing numerous benefits of the State mandate citizens to maintain a prior record of necessary documents to that effect, implying the need to have a proper legal name therein. Any contradiction therein, that even the slightest mismatch of names on such documents can destroy one’s social life today. As humans, we are prone to errors and attracted to change, bearing which the Democratic Government like that of India permits its citizens to change their names and, as of today, even recognise it as an integral facet of their right to privacy, assuring minimum interference with the name people to seek to be recognised by in the society. While reasonable restrictions prohibit the exercise of such rights in a few instances, the unreasonable restriction of such rights is practically impermissible in the country. Despite the situation in law, it was observed in one case, wherein one Dinky Gupta was refused by CBSE to change her legal name. The high court of Kerala gave the verdict in favor of the petitioner and allowed her to change her name as a matter of a constitutional right.
