CUTTACK: The eight-year-old boy Millennium Bismay's case took a new turn on Thursday when the Orissa High Court questioned about the legitimacy of the minor boy approaching the court through his maternal uncle while his natural parents are alive.

The child prodigy represented through his maternal uncle Niranjan Behera had approached the High Court in December last seeking a direction to the State Government to allow him to sit for the Matriculation examination after condoning his age.

The division bench of Justice P K Tripathy and Justice R N Biswal after adjudicating over the case in several sittings and issuing notices to the State Government and state Board of Secondary Education (BSE) had completed the hearing of the case on Wednesday and had reserved the judgment.

But the bench on Thursday asked the petitioner counsel to explain why the boy preferred to approach the court through his maternal uncle when the Hindu Minor and Guardianship Act and section 32 (3) 4 of Code of Civil Procedure say that minor children may not be represented in courts through their maternal uncles.

When the petitioner counsel Ashok Mohapatra argued that a maternal uncle could represent a minor nephew in court, the bench adjourned the hearing to March 5 asking the counsel to either submit an affidavit from the boy's natural parents in this regard or argue over the contentious issue.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail