Non-consensual DNA test against basic human rights, rules SC
Pakistan
Some PPC clauses allow DNA tests without consent but not civil law
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ruled that it was in contravention of the basic human rights to have someone’s DNA test without one’s consent.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah issued the verdict in a case on getting a DNA test to resolve a conflict on guardianship for the inheriting property.
Justice Shah remarked that it was also a violation of personal and individual freedom adding that having a non-consensual DNA test was tantamount to breaching Articles 9 and 14 of the constitution. “Privacy or personal life is linked to the right to life,” he remarked.
Some clauses of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) allowed DNA tests without consent but civil law did not allow so, the justice ruled.
He went on to write that DNA was a person’s detailed database adding that if documents proved someone’s guardianship with continuity, there was no need to have a DNA test conducted. “If a child’s father never undeclared his guardianship, there was no need to have a DNA test,” he remarked.
