NEW DELHI: It is a classic case of how courts should not decide the custody battle of a child between estranged parents, by only hearing arguments of the warring couple's lawyers in the courtroom without interacting with the minor to know about the child's liking and comfort level with parents.
Ten months after it directed a woman to hand over custody of a 12-year-old boy to her divorced husband, the Supreme Court has recalled its order as it resulted in mental and emotional breakdown of the minor who did not want to get separated from his mother and is now undergoing psychiatric treatment at Christian Medical College, Vellore .
Admitting the error by the apex court as well as Kerala high court in granting custody to the father who visited and met the child only a few times in 12 years, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B Varale said that the judicial order had a "calamitous effect" on the child's health and reversed its order by granting custody to the mother.
In this case, the couple got divorced within two years of marriage in 2011 and the child had been living with the mother since then. She remarried four years after divorce. The father in 2022 approached a family court for custody of the child on the ground that the woman was shifting to Malaysia along with her second husband. The family court rejected the plea but Kerala HC and SC in Aug last year allowed his plea.
The court's order led to deterioration of the child's mental health and the clinical psychologist's report said the minor was suffering anxiety and fear, with a high risk of separation anxiety disorder. The mother thereafter filed a review petition for recall of the order and placed medical reports before the court.
Allowing her plea, the court said, "It would be extremely harsh and insensitive for courts of law to expect the child to accept and flourish in an alien household where his own biological father is akin to a stranger to him. We cannot turn a blind eye to the trauma that is being inflicted on the child in consequence of the orders of courts of law handing custody to the father, who is alleged to exhibit apathy towards the tender emotional state of the minor."
It admitted that the child's deteriorating mental health was "as a consequence of judicial order changing custody" and relied upon the medical report to reverse its order.
Ten months after it directed a woman to hand over custody of a 12-year-old boy to her divorced husband, the Supreme Court has recalled its order as it resulted in mental and emotional breakdown of the minor who did not want to get separated from his mother and is now undergoing psychiatric treatment at Christian Medical College, Vellore .
Admitting the error by the apex court as well as Kerala high court in granting custody to the father who visited and met the child only a few times in 12 years, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B Varale said that the judicial order had a "calamitous effect" on the child's health and reversed its order by granting custody to the mother.
In this case, the couple got divorced within two years of marriage in 2011 and the child had been living with the mother since then. She remarried four years after divorce. The father in 2022 approached a family court for custody of the child on the ground that the woman was shifting to Malaysia along with her second husband. The family court rejected the plea but Kerala HC and SC in Aug last year allowed his plea.
The court's order led to deterioration of the child's mental health and the clinical psychologist's report said the minor was suffering anxiety and fear, with a high risk of separation anxiety disorder. The mother thereafter filed a review petition for recall of the order and placed medical reports before the court.
Allowing her plea, the court said, "It would be extremely harsh and insensitive for courts of law to expect the child to accept and flourish in an alien household where his own biological father is akin to a stranger to him. We cannot turn a blind eye to the trauma that is being inflicted on the child in consequence of the orders of courts of law handing custody to the father, who is alleged to exhibit apathy towards the tender emotional state of the minor."
It admitted that the child's deteriorating mental health was "as a consequence of judicial order changing custody" and relied upon the medical report to reverse its order.
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