Ex-wife changed the name and father's name of the child

1.    Name of natural parent in Municipal records cannot be changed only spell correction are entertained.  

2.    Adopted / foster father name also cannot be put in Birth Certificate.

3.    In MCD if no such condition put not to change given name of Child then natural guardian having physical custody of child is at liberty to change given name of child and for the same she is not required to seek permission of ex-husband.

4.    If child is adopted by second husband then without your friend’s consent her second husband cannot adopt the child.

5.    My guess is that she has shown original birth certificate to be missing and taken an police report and since one can apply under 15 years for Birth certificate as per Rules by paying notional late fees so she has got this fresh Birth Certificate issued with step father (second husband) name as natural father !.

6.    Remedy now is to hire an advocate found via local reference and file an Appeal in State’s HC and challenge the issues and do make representative of Municipal Corporation + second husband also as respondent other than ex wife of your friend. It is also suggested to regularly keep sending the monthly money as per MCD terms and let ‘refusal’ come from her - her sides of relatives which now becomes part of evidence of yoru friends good conduct least she creates some emotive dramas before Hon'ble HC Bench on some imaginary stopping of maintenance etc.

@Tajobsindia : Thanks a lot. Apart from the facts mentioned above, some finer details are as follows:

1. The respective Municipal Corporation under which the child was born (in a nursing home) is having no birth records of the child. In fact, in their database, when the name of actual father, mother and date of birth of the child is being inserted, it is showing 'no such records'. The possibility is that my friend's ex and her present husband got it registered under some other panchayat / municipality. Though now the records are directly sent by the nursing homes, at that time it was not the system there. They have probably manipulated grossly. 

2. It was written in the MCD that my friend's ex was to retain the name of the child ..... but she has not done it. School records prove it. 

3. After refusal of maintenance money, my friend wrote several letters to his ex including her relatives asking for reasons for not receiving (refusal) the maintenance money now though they received it before. Hence, Refusal came from her only. 

4. My friend has never consented (in fact, was never asked also) to adoption. Hence there is no question of adoption. My friend has got proof from school records that the name and father's name of the child have been changed. 

Under this condition, my question is:

1. Can a police complaint of possible disposing of and / or child trafficking be lodged? After all, the child with her true paternal identity is untraceable. 

2. Can criminal complaints be lodged against the ex's relatives who received the money but did not inform the true facts to my friend?

3. The police / criminal case can to some extent shake them. Civil proceedings are generally dragged. That's why I was seeking advice whether the reckless actions of my friend's ex / her present husband and possibly with the help of her relatives can be brought within the ambit of some strict criminal laws?  

To your (same) three questions, remedies under (civil) Contempt of Court Act, 1971 are there before Hon’ble HC and not under Criminal laws and should be availed at the earliest by your friend.
Reasoning:
You clarified to us by your second reply that in your friend's MCD which is part of the Judgment now, parties agreed to retain given name of the child (till child attains majority) as well as parties agreed to give/receive certain maintenance per month (till child attains majority). Now one party cannot in fiduciary capacity alter / modify / change given name of the parties minor child as well as one party cannot refuse maintenance which as shown was paid regulalrly. If one party does so it disturbs MCD agreement and Judgment of the Family Court be it if done at an later stage as parties have to stick to what forms part of Judgment till till child attains majority or either party seeks modification of the same. If she wants to change name or refuse receiving payment her remedy is under Appeal before HC citing valid reasons to do so and cannot take such unilateral decisions on her own be it so even she is now re-married. And your friend's remedy in absence of her filing any Appeal is to approach Hon'ble HC and file civil Contempt of Court Applciation which is bound to get summary disposal in your friend's favour and changed name will be resorted to older given name of the minor and regular maintenance payment she will be asked to receive as it State cannot say no on behalf of Minor not to pay maintenance to a minor.
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Nowdays in the state of Maharastra a women can retain her maiden name even after her marriage even while filing for divorce they can file it with their maiden name . Even when a child is admitted into a school a single parent or who so ever has the child in her custody in the absence of any Divorce decree or MCD can take out the child without the consent of the other parent since nowdays a lot of schools accept admissions of a single parent without taking into consideration the consent of the other parent .Even if brought to the notice of the court she or he would state welfare of the child as the reason .

A child when she attains the age of 18 and becomes a Major can change her name as per  her Wishes . Alternatively  your ex would force her to change her name once she has passed the age of 18 yrs. When custody was given to her didnt you opt  for visitation wherein you would have been in constant contact with your child and hence your child would have communicated to you the facts of her change in name as you would have been in close contact with her out of love .

Getting into litigation is dirty and would be just a waste of time and money in terms of lawyers fees and that too under civil laws where there is no Prison term .All that would take place is for a certain period of time her name would be changed back and later on reversed once she attains the age of 18 by your ex stating that these are her wishes .

@Tajobs & @Stanley : Thanks a lot for your comments. Just to clarify it further:

1)  @Tajobsindia has nicely stated how to change the name of the minor girl in HC.  @Stanley, I could understand that if under pressure, the ex of my friend changes the name of the child, she can once again change it after the child attains 18 years of age. So it will be a futile exercise. @Stanley, my friend did not have visitations - that's a fact. 

2) Here the  main issue is that through an act of possible forgery, the ex of my friend has changed the birth records of the girl itself. The Municipality under which the girl was born is not having any records of any girl, who was born on the date of her birth and whose father is my friend and mother is the ex of my friend.  That is CONFIRMED. In all possibility, she has made a false birth record of the girl in any other Municipality / Panchayat showing her present husband as her father. Then the question becomes where is the daughter of my friend? In no official records including the birth records and school records of the child, the name of my friend is there. Nonetheless, the ex and her family members kept on receiving the maintenance money every month sent for the minor girl for several years. 

3) I can understand that getting into litigation for change of name of the minor girl may give result but it may not last long as they could again change it after she attains 18 years of age. However, for the reasons mentioned at para-2 above, can a criminal proceeding be initiated for forgery, tampering of birth records and possible disposing of or trafficking of minor girl? The fact of the matter is that apart from the MCD, there is no record, which can show that my friend has a daughter through his ex. 

With all the facts that you have stated, it is a case of cheating (IPC 420) as well as Criminal Breach of Trust (IPC 406). When the girl is minor, criminal cases u/s 366A, 372, 373 etc. can also be initiated. It appears that you have taken a decision that  you don't want to change the name of the girl. But I think, criminal prosecution of the ex-wife, her present husband and the relatives who took the money  can be initiated through police. It will at least give them huge jolt, if whatever u have said is right. But there may be some other facts that u  don't know. If the ex insisted also, why her present husband agreed to do this illegal activity. Because, if the birth record has been made showing him s the father, then it must be carrying his signature also. Can one make that mistake? If he has done, he can be implicated along with the mother.  

In Mah Govt A Divorcee / Separated Woman can put her name and maiden sirname in the place of the father in school form.

She has to file an affidavit before a Magistrate stating that she is separated / divorced and the custody is awarded to her and that she is maintaining the child. There is a process and procedure to be fololwed without which name change cannot take place and can be challenged in court. 

The copy of Mah Govt GR For Name change is attached herewith.