The writ petition filed by Attorney-at-Law Nuwan Bopage seeking to quash the decision of the Register General who refused to issue the birth certificate of his son was taken for argument yesterday.
The application was filed after the Registrar General has refused to register the Bopage’s son’s birth certificate on the basis that the race of the father is a mandatory requirement in registering a birth of a child.
The two-judge bench appointed to hear the case has informed the Attorney General (AG) to inquire from the Registrar General on whether the information on the race can be omitted from a birth certificate and present facts to the court on 17th February 2022.
In his petition, Bopage said he had requested the Registrar General in writing to include information of father’s race as ‘Human,‘Sri Lankan’ or allow for it to be left unfilled in his son’s birth certificate.
Bopage informed the court that the Registrar General had rejected his request0on the basis that race is a mandatory requirement adding that the decision taken by the Registrar General was unjust and where including the race of the father to a birth certificate further would promote racial divisions and a bar to build a Sri Lankan nation and identity.
The lawyer called on the court to issue an order revoking the decision taken by the Registrar General pertaining to his son’s birth certificate.
He also requested the court to instruct the Registrar General to fill in the information on race as ‘Sri Lankan’ or to leave it unfilled. (NewsWire)