Man loses case over being born to sterilised mum

Man loses case over being born to sterilised mum

An Indian man has lost a decades-long legal battle over his own birth which came after his mother underwent sterilisation in a state clinic.

Mr Rajesh Laljibhai Patel's mother had launched a lawsuit against the government of India's western Gujarat state two years after he was born in 1985.

Ms Vijuben Patel, who already had four children, went through sterilisation in 1979. She argued that the government should pay for her son's maintenance, citing medical negligence.

In 1992, the court ruled in her favour, ordering authorities to pay her 25,000 rupees (S$530).

But the authorities appealed, and a higher court finally ordered the family to repay the money in December last year.

Mr Rajesh, now a soldier in the Indian army, launched a counter-appeal in April.

But his appeal was rejected, in a ruling that said sterilisation involved a marginal rate of failure and his birth did not constitute medical negligence.


This article was first published on June 20, 2015.
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