Right to change names is part of freedom of speech, the Court says. The Supreme Court on Thursday found a Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) rule that prohibited students from changing or correcting their names on Board certificates, based on a presumption that it would affect “administrative efficiency”, far-removed from social realities and even “absurd”. “Students stand to lose more due to inaccuracies in their certificates than the Board, whose sole worry is increasing administrative burden… Administrative efficiency cannot be the sole concern of CBSE. The right to change our name is part of the right to freedom of speech and expression. The court said the seminal question in the case was whether the CBSE’s quest for administrative efficiency could deny a student “full control of her own identity”.

Source: The Hindu June 03, 2021 18:22 UTC