Supreme Court deprecates mother's conduct; hands over minor boy's custody to father

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has handed over interim custody of a minor boy to his father, while deprecating conduct of the mother for keeping her husband as well as the courts in the United Kingdom and India in dark about the child's location.

A bench of Justices J K Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi deprecated the conduct of the mother, holding she never intended the child to meet his father and to honour the court orders.

After going through the facts, the bench said, "The judicial system in India as well as the UK had been taken for a ride by the mother for the reasons known best to her."

The court found the entire whirlpool of litigation has been set into motion by the parents, who got married in 2010, wherein the children are being pulled in.

It ordered for handing over the custody of the six-year-old child to the father, a resident of Noida. The bench also directed for initiation of proceedings under the Guardians and Wards Act, for the child's custody before a competent court.

"The present case reflects a deep-rooted conflict between the mother and father, arising from their divergent intentions regarding staying together and raising their children in India. This discord has not only strained their marital relationship but has also adversely impacted their children," the bench said.

The court noted the wife left for the UK with the daughter in 2021, leaving the son with the maternal grandparents in Sonipat.

This fact was disclosed, when a habeas corpus petition was filed.

The court said where the mother is staying in London with the daughter and the son is staying with grandparents, despite the availability of father, who has sufficient means of sustenance to undertake the well-being of the child, the best interest of the child needs to be ascertained.

The father was a qualified engineer, with Master’s degree in Computer Science with a post-graduate diploma in Business Administration. He was also employed in Singapore, United Kingdom and US for time being.

Thus, his academic credentials and professional competence cannot be doubted, the bench said.

The court also noted he currently resided in Noida with his mother and younger sister, which is more suitably located than Sonipat, having better educational institutes.

"In our view, welfare of the child would be served if the interim custody of the child is given to the father who is also the natural guardian,'' the bench said.

The court's judgment came on a challenge by the woman's parents challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court's order, directing for handing over the custody to the father.

In the case, the court noted the mother got a divorce from the Family Court in London, but she challenged the divorce decree to the husband granted by the Family Court in Jind, Haryana, in India.

Conversely, the father - having secured a divorce from the Family Court in Jind, India - has contested the divorce decree passed by the UK Family Court.

Both the parties seek divorce and refuse to accept the decrees granted by courts in different jurisdictions and continue to challenge them, the bench noted.

"It appears that both parties wish to obtain divorce only from the court of the jurisdiction in which they currently reside. This is not merely a clash of egos, but prima-facie, reflects a concerning mindset that may ultimately come at the cost of the welfare of the minor children,'' the bench said.