The Kerala High Court has emphasized that DNA testing should be permitted by courts only in cases where there is a compelling initial indication in favor of the individual requesting the test, rather than as a routine measure in all cases.

"The court finds that one cannot seek DNA test to be done only in his/her attempt to fish out evidence in support of his/her case. Unless and until the applicant makes out a strong prima facie case, such an application is not liable to be allowed," it said while allowing a petition challenging a trial court's decision to allow a DNA test to be conducted in a property dispute.

In 2017, a woman filed a petition before a trial court asserting her right to land owned by a man who passed away in the 1980s. She claimed that the deceased man was her father and that he had been previously married to her mother before marrying another woman. Arguing that she was born from the man's first marriage, she and her mother contended that they were entitled to a share of his property.

The deceased man's son opposed this claim, maintaining that his father was only married to his mother and no one else. To substantiate her parentage, the woman filed an application for a sibling DNA test, which was granted by a magistrate's court.

The man's son then lodged an original petition before the high court. After reviewing all the details of the case, the court referenced a previous ruling by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, emphasizing that a robust prima facie case is essential to request a DNA test. In this instance, the plaintiff/applicant herself acknowledged the absence of evidence beyond what was sought to be established through DNA analysis.

"DNA analysis, even if allowed, will not establish the marriage between (the deceased man and the plaintiff's mother). At best, it may prove that the plaintiff is the daughter (of the deceased man). The proof of the same, by itself, would not carry the plaintiff anywhere. The prayer is one for partition," the high court said as it set aside the order allowing the conduct of a DNA test.