Yes, and DNA testing has increasingly become an important evidentiary tool in Mumbai property and inheritance disputes, particularly in cases involving disputed paternity, questioned legitimacy, or contested claims about biological relationship to a deceased property owner, though courts approach directing such testing with appropriate care given the personal and sensitive nature of this evidence. Under the general powers of civil courts to direct scientific investigation relevant to determining facts in issue, and drawing on principles the Supreme Court has developed in matters involving disputed parentage, courts can direct DNA testing where establishing genetic relationship is genuinely central to resolving a property or inheritance dispute.

The Supreme Court's guidance, particularly in cases addressing DNA testing in the context of disputed paternity and inheritance claims, has established that courts should not order such testing routinely or as a matter of course, but should instead balance the genuine necessity of the evidence for justly resolving the dispute against privacy considerations and the potential for such orders to be misused for harassment or to cast unwarranted aspersions on a person's parentage or fidelity. Courts examine whether there is a strong prima facie case warranting such an intrusive test, whether alternative evidence could reasonably resolve the dispute without resorting to DNA testing, and whether ordering the test genuinely serves the interests of justice in the specific circumstances presented.

In property and inheritance disputes specifically, DNA testing becomes relevant where a person's claim to a share in the deceased's estate depends fundamentally on establishing they are indeed a biological child, sibling, or other genetically related heir of the deceased, and where this biological relationship is genuinely disputed by other parties with competing claims to the estate. Where samples from the deceased are unavailable, courts have sometimes permitted testing against samples from other established relatives who share relevant genetic markers, allowing indirect verification of the claimed relationship even without direct testing against the deceased's own DNA.

It's important to understand that a person cannot generally be compelled to undergo DNA testing against their will, since this would raise serious concerns about bodily autonomy and privacy rights, but courts can draw adverse inferences against a party who refuses to undergo testing that has been properly ordered as relevant and necessary to resolving the dispute, effectively creating strong practical pressure to comply even without direct physical compulsion, since refusal itself becomes evidence the court can weigh against that party's position.

Given how DNA testing applications require careful legal argument establishing genuine necessity while respecting privacy considerations, professional guidance is essential to both seeking and, where appropriate, resisting such applications. Our legal experts at Aapka Legal Advice assess whether DNA testing applications are genuinely warranted in Mumbai inheritance disputes involving contested heirship. The Top Property Lawyers in Mumbai team has handled sensitive cases involving DNA testing applications in inheritance disputes before Mumbai's civil courts, supported by a panel of retired judges experienced in succession law and criminal lawyers for related matters. If your Mumbai property or inheritance dispute involves contested heirship that DNA testing could resolve, careful legal assessment of whether such an application meets the required threshold is essential before proceeding.