Does a married woman hold a right to her maiden surname? Here's the matter explained

Recently, the Delhi High Court catered to the response of the Centre to a petition that challenged a notification by the government requiring married women of the country to provide a no-objection certificate from their husbands in case they wanted to change their surnames back to their maiden surnames legally.

Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora comprised the division bench. The bench instructed the government to file the response by May 28.

As per research, the trend of changing their surnames after marriage by women in India is actually new in the country. Yet, recent information points to the fact that there is a slow shift in the social convention. A survey conducted by a matrimony application in the year 2022 demonstrated that about 92 percent of the participants of the country thought that it is actually normal for married women of the country to choose to not change their surnames post-marriage.

The government notification

It was the Department of Publication that published this notification of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The notification says that a woman who seeks to legally change her name to her original maiden name needs to submit a no-objection certificate from her husband, or a copy of the divorce decree. A copy of her identity proof with her contact number is also required to be submitted with the no-objection certificate. In case the divorce proceedings are pending, such an application would actually remain on hold until the case ends.

The title of the notification is “Change of Name (Major & Minor), (Change of Sex, Change of Religion, Public Notices for Correction of Name, Adoption of Child)". This name falls under the category of “Change of Maiden Surname.”

What comes as a surprise is the fact that it is still not known as to why the notification has been issued by the MoHUA. 

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The petition

It is Divya Modi Tongya, a 40-year-old lady based in Delhi who took her husband's surname in the year 2014 legally. However, in the year 2019, she chose to change her name in order to include her maiden name as well along with her husband's surname. Last year, in the month of August, the woman filed for divorce as per the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 before the Delhi High Court. The woman thus wanted to go back to her maiden surname at the time of the proceedings of the case.

However, the woman was unable to switch back to her maiden name because of the "arbitrary nature" of the notification by the government, sans a NOC from her husband. Therefore, the woman challenged the notification by the government before the Delhi High Court and demanded a direction from the court to quash the notification.

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